John Barron of MRH Among Area's Top Soccer Scorers

High school football fans all over Missouri are giddy with excitement over the start of the state playoffs, which begin with games Wednesday and Friday night. is among the 184 schools that will be a part of the event. It will host a home game in the first round of the playoffs at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

MRH (8-2), champions of Class 2 District 4 and the No. 7-ranked team in the Class 2 statewide poll, will open up the playoffs with a matchup against Principia (2-7). Principia is the runner-up team in Class 2 District 3 after losing Saturday’s championship game to Brentwood.

Boys soccer districts kick off this week

MRH soccer star John Barron is now fourth in the area in scoring with 32 goals and 8 assists for the Blue Devils this year.

He and teammate Sam Martin (21 goals, 12 assists) make up one of the most dangerous tandems in the state and will look to showcase their skills when district play begins for the Devils on Tuesday night against Cleveland NJROTC.

MRH, which is the host school in Class 1 District 2, is the No. 2 seed in the district. Assuming the Blue Devils win, they would take on South Central Athletic Association champion and No. 1 seed Bayless in a district championship game at 6:15 p.m. Thursday.

Upset in the volleyball playoffs

Archrivals Brentwood and Maplewood played each other four times this season. The Eagles won three of those matchups in impressive fashion and earned themselves the No. 1 seed in the Class 2 District 5 playoffs.

But the Blue Devils won a heart-stopping championship game over the Eagles last Wednesday, 25-18, 23-25, 25-20.

Mariah Russell had 10 kills and Brittney Poole had 16 assists, as the Devils avenged a loss to Brentwood in the 2010 district volleyball championship game.

The celebration was short-lived, though: MRH lost to Fatima (MO) in the sectional round over the weekend and finished the year with a 16-16-3 record.