Cardinal Ritter ends Cape Central’s season, coasts to C5D1 title

ST. LOUIS — Cape Central wanted to reach higher this season, but on Friday night the Tigers hit their ceiling.

They smacked right into it at Cardinal Ritter High School in the Class 5 District 1 Championship with hopes of capturing a third straight district crown. It was a dominant outing from the two-time defending state champion Lions as Cape Central’s special season ended in a 56-14 rout in St. Louis.

"As far as this season goes, it ends in a disappointment," head coach Kent Gibbs said. "But at the end of the day, you win 10 games. That's tough to do. We played them tough, played them hard. They're a better team than us."

In a rematch of the 2023 Class 5 state semifinals, the Tigers were overpowered by Cardinal Ritter (9-1), a team that features eight Division 1 recruits and has ran through nearly every opponent this season.

The Tigers battled tough early, but as the score indicated, Cape Central (10-2) failed to generate much offense. Senior running back Zai’Aire “Zip” Thomas ended his impressive high school career with two touchdowns in the game, while junior running back Keyshawn Boyd racked up over 60 yards on the ground.

Cardinal Ritter built a 22-7 lead in the first half and led all game against a Cape Central team that had not trailed since Oct. 4 against Jackson.

Cardinal Ritter did not even need the state’s top-rated wide receiver Dejerrian Miller to be a big factor to advance to the Class 5 state quarterfinals next Saturday. The Tigers did a good job locking down the Ritter aerial attack, but they also made a handful of mistakes to rob themselves of any chance of a competitive game.

Following a Manny Ellis 1-yard touchdown run and a two-point conversion on Cardinal Ritter’s first offensive drive, Cape Central responded in a hurry.

Lined up at midfield, senior quarterback Deklin Pittman zipped a pass to a wide-open Thomas on a slant route before he juked a defender and took it 42 yards to the house to make it 8-7.

Then the explosive play came back to bite the Tigers.

Ellis scored on a 4-yard touchdown run right after speedy wideout Mekhi Mixon’s 51-yard catch and run. The Lions padded their lead before the break when University of Illinois commit and dual-threat quarterback Carson Boyd scrambled out of pocket, found an open lane and sprinted down the Cape Central sideline for a 64-yard touchdown run.

On the second play of the third quarter, Ellis bursted down the sideline for a 68-yard touchdown run to extend the Cardinal Ritter lead to 28-7.

And that was pretty much it in Cape Central’s first district tournament loss since 2021. The second half was all Cardinal Ritter, with a late pick six pouring salt in the wound.

Gibbs said his team embraced their role as the heavy underdog and came in expecting to slug it out with the St. Louis powerhouse.

"I really appreciate how we approached the week," Gibbs said. "We had great practices all week long, which is a sign of, 'hey, we can do this thing.' And like I told our kids, 'all you can do is go do the best you can. Play every play as hard as you can play. It's 0-0 and every play's got to be 0-0 because you don't know what you don't know.' And I thought we approached it that way."

Thomas electrified each week in 2024, finishing with well over 2,000 all-purpose yards and 32 total touchdowns in his final season wearing the black and orange. Boyd, who battled an injury for the latter half of the season, eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the second straight season. Pittman, who bounced back from a season-ending injury as a junior, turned in his best single-season after throwing for over 1,000 yards and 16 touchdowns.

While a state championship was the end goal, Gibbs’ program is clearly trending in the right direction. This year marks Cape Central’s third consecutive 10-win season — three years after the Tigers went 12-18 in Gibbs’ first three seasons at the helm from 2019-2021.

Thomas, Pittman and the 19 other senior mainstays all are graduating after winning 32 games for one of the most decorated classes in Cape Central football history.

“The big picture is we won 30 games in three years with a really good bunch of seniors that kind of started us over from scratch,” Gibbs said. “They worked hard and did what they need to do. It's kind of what you want to have happen. It's kind of a storybook ending, if you will. So, I just can't say enough about those guys.”