Gateway’s great gridiron campaign and Terrance Little’s ‘big’ campaign in Hazelwood went under the radar in 2025 by Lonnel Cole
They weren’t the last St Louis city teams standing in the Missouri state football championship brackets this season, as that honor went to the unsung Lift for Life Academy Hawks, who made it to the Class 3 state championship game before losing to Seneca 33-26 in the title game. They didn’t advance to the state semifinals or quarterfinals like St. Mary’s (Class 4) or Cardinal Ritter (Class 5, respectively), so you may have missed another banner season by the Gateway Stem Jaguars who finished with a 9-1 record and went undefeated in the regular season for the second consecutive season.
They didn’t wow you with their individual statistics. There were no individual players with prolific, prodigious numbers, as it had been when Gateway had impressive postseason runs in 2011, when all-purpose quarterback Paul Rice set a historic Public High League standard by passing for 2,037 yards and 26 touchdowns, while also rushing for 1,678 yards, or 2008 when running back Anthony Pierson scored 24 touchdowns and rushed for 2,204 yards.
No, this Jaguars team spread the yards all over. Quarterbacks Tylin Moore and Lamonta Robinson combined for just over a modest 1,200 yards passing. Reshon White led a balanced rushing attack with 551 yards, while Javion Jones led the club in receiving with 500 yards. Freshman Kadyn Willis laso played a key role in the contributions by committee, by rushing for 210 yards on 37 carries with two touchdowns and returning two punts for touchdowns as well Defensively, the leaders had stout numbers, as Kair James had 97 stops and Dennis Berry had eight sacks. Jones was recently named the PHL’s Offensively Player of the Year.
But the real numbers are reflected in the team stats, as the Jaguars outscored their foes 308-72 this past season, while yielding just 7.20 points per game. Their 34-0 season-ending playoff defeat to the visiting Lutheran North Crusaders marked the only time all season, Gateway had surrendered multiple touchdowns in a game.
“I couldn’t be more proud of them,” said Gateway coach Jason Dulick. “To be able to accomplish what we did this season after losing 17 players from last year is a great accomplishment.. We had a lot of young guys really step up and assume larger roles for the first time. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Indicative of that youth, two of those key contributors were James, a sophomore linebacker and fellow sophomore Amon Smith. Add to that mix, was an emerging freshman defensive lineman Markavic Edwards coming off the bench. His game stats will bear watching in the future,
“We usually don’t play play freshman on the varsity, but through the season MJ started catching the coaches eye in practice and on the scout team,” relayed Dulick. “He was showing up on film in practice with great effort, strength and determination and we decided as a staff to give him some playing experience in games. When he was able to get in, he did a good job for us on the defensive line. He recorded a sack vs Clayton and helped out with our depth on the line.”
Meanwhile, the sophomore linebacker James has been a constant presence from the outset with nearly 100 tackles (97), two sacks and two fumble recoveries, including 17 stops in a victory over Doniphan. Not bad for a novice of sorts.
“This was his first year playing high school football,” explained Dulick. “He had six games this season where he finished with 10 or more tackles in a game, including 10 in the district semifinal against Lutheran North…Before the season we had some question marks at linebacker with the graduation of Terrance Mitchell, but Kair has stepped up this year and filled in nicely.”
By contrast, Amon Smith was a defensive lineman with high school football experience, by way of Soldan, whose players were in the Gateway building this season, following last May’s tornado, which displaced Soldan’s students from their building.
“We had to replace Brielle Cartwright who was one of our top defensive linemen last season. Amon has stepped up and fit right in. He had a great summer in the weight room with us and was one of the first players to come to us in the summer from Soldan. He finished with 31 tackles and two sacks. He was a big presence on the defense line this year for us.””
Little's big yearCardinal Ritter’s Manny Ellis and St Mary’s Kingston Miles had seasons on another stratosphere, compared to most of the running backs with 2,508 and 2,088 yards, respectively. But Hazelwood East’s Terrance Little was at the next level of accomplished runners with 1,819 yards on 209 carries to surpass former great Ricardo Rhodes’ single-season mark of 1,809 at the school, once known for great running backs, as well as perennial state contending teams overall.
“Senior running back Terrance Little has been outstanding for us this season,: raved Hazelwood East coach Bob Cole. “His combination of speed, instinct and a strong senior offensive line has made our rushing attack one of the most dominant in the area. As a junior, Terrance rushed for over 1,100 yards while sharing the backfield with two other 800-yard rushers. This season, as a focal point of our offense …Terrance’s performance has attracted the attention of college recruiters (from the bordering states region). Off the field, he carries a 3.2 GPA (grade point average) while earning college credits through the dual enrollment program with St Louis Community College..”
A running back with sprinter’s speed literally, Little was a member of the Spartans’ winning state-championship 4×100 meter relay squad last spring with a time of 43.62 seconds. (Marcus Burks, Jaylen Vance and Ari Shakoor also comprised that sprint corps.) But as far as football was cornered, Little carries a heavy load-literally and figuratively. The next two most productive Spartans’ backs, Dion Hentz and Tyshawn Tillman had to combine to reach over 500 yards and 10 touchdowns. Meanwhile, only one receiver, Dominique Bolden was the only player to secure double-digit receptions (20 catches for 270 yards.)
On the other hand, the defense was steady and balanced, with Oscar Chatman, Jabari Edwards and Tra Shon French all amassing over 55 tackles, for a team that was winning and competitively all season.
“The season obviously didn’t end the way we wanted but our kids gave it their best and left it on the field,” said Cole.
Below: The Gateway Jaguars young trio of Markavic Edwards, Amon Smith and Kair James helped lead the club to a second straight Public High League title and undefeated regular season. Edwards and James ( who’s a different jersey, 15,here) are shown in action against Lutheran North. Meanwhile Terrance Little, far right, carrying the football had a school-record season at Hazelwood East, under coach Robert Cole, consulting Little below.
