ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Jefferson City Jays gave it all they had.
Francis Howell just had a little more.
The top-seeded Vikings scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to claim a 14-10 victory Friday night against second-seeded Jefferson City in the Class 6 District 3 championship game at Howell Stadium.
Jays' head coach Ted LePage had nothing but positive things to say about his team.
"I just told the them, I couldn't me more proud of a team, because we have no business being on the field with that football team." he said. "They were twice as big as we were. Their team top to bottom was better talent-wise than we were.
"But I'll tell you this: I'll take (our guys) every day of the week. They put the pride back in J.C. Man, they played their hearts out. Wow."
LePage was only disappointed about one thing.
"I don't get to spend another day with them," he said.
Francis Howell (12-0) drove 58 yards on 21 plays and converted on fourth down three times before Sutton Smith could punch it in from two yards out to give the Vikings the lead with 1:12 to play in the fourth quarter. The drive lasted 8:01 and Francis Howell gained a first down by a couple of inches on fourth-and-one from the Jays' six-yard line.
Jefferson City (8-4) had a chance to put together one last drive, but Conner Flynn intercepted J.T. Bohlken on a double pass play and the Vikings were able to run out the clock from there.
Francis Howell, ranked third in Class 6, didn't get on the board until Smith ran one in from 33 yards out to cut the deficit to three with 11:16 to play in the fourth.
It was all Jays for the first three quarters.
Jefferson City got on the board first by using an 11-play, 40-yard drive that set up a 32-yard field goal by Bohlken with 11:10 left in the second quarter.
The Vikings drove to the Jays' five-yard line with time winding down in the first half, but Zach Bond picked off Sam Hefner on second-and-goal and returned the interception 64 yards.
The Jays didn't slow up in the second half.
Elijah Pittman capped a 15-play, 54-yard drive that took 5:56 off the clock with a 1-yard run on fourth and goal to give Jefferson City a 10-0 lead with 43 second remaining in the third quarter.
That's all the Jays could get against the Vikings defense, which was allowing just over seven points per game coming into the contest.
Jefferson City did limited Francis Howell, which was averaging 43 points per game, to its lowest point total this season.
The Jays finished with 182 yards of total offense, while the Vikings compiled 305 - 268 yards on the ground. Jefferson City had possession of the ball for 25:45.
Pittman had 65 yards rushing on 26 carries, while Jake Pridgin rushed for 45 yards on 16 carries.
Senior quarterback Isaac Rolling was 3-of-7 for 32 yards and also ran for 22 yards on nine carries.
Smith, who is committed to play at Northern Illinois, finished his evening with 232 yards on 42 carries.
"Life is about getting knocked down and seeing how fast and how hard you can get back up," LePage said. "These guys did. They got back up every time. We just didn't have enough time tonight."