A few extra thoughts running through my brain after perhaps the best Week 1 matchup in the area:

-- It just didn’t feel like a Friday night atmosphere. From the muggy, sun-drenched first half to a lackluster crowd, the energy seemed drained from most of the Hound Pound, save for a raucous student section. The 97.1 FM ambulance/portable sound system tried its best to keep the crowd in it, but Foreigner’s “Dirty White Boy” was the first song to blare from its crackling speakers.

A curious choice to be sure.

-- Or maybe it was the swarm of bugs that had me out of sorts. From the moment I arrived on the sidelines, a persistent cloud of flying insects bothered the players, coaches and officials. The stupid things would consistently run into the back of your head and leave you scrambling to swipe them away.

When you looked into the distance, it looked like a scene from a National Geographic show about "Killer bees in Texas."

Luckily, they didn’t seem to bite, although i’m yet to identify them. People on the field blamed the swarm on moist conditions after heavy rain fell in the area the previous night.

I just hope next time I'm in Maryville, those bugs aren't.

-- Play of the Day: After much speculation, we have ... A TIE!

I couldn’t choose between two amazing completions from Maryville quarterback Joe Jasinski to his inexperienced receiving corps. Both came in the second half.

Mostly a defensive back, senior John Schreck made up for a disastrous mishandled punt that set up Hickman Mills’ touchdown with an unbelievable catch. Facing a first down deep in their own territory, coach Chris Holt opted to take a shot down the field. Jasinski dropped back and lofted a pass down the right sideline but into double coverage.

Schreck never stopped running, as the Hickman Mills defensive backs pulled up to try and make a play on the ball. Instead, it sailed past them and into the hands of a diving Schreck for a 34-yard gain.

Play No. 2 came early in the fourth quarter. On second and 8 at Hickman Mills’ 12, Jasinski rolled right under duress and found junior Adam Thompson along the sideline. The 6-foot-3 tight end caught the pass with his toes tickling the near sideline. After briefly looking down, he realized he was still in bounds near the 4-yard line and turned up field, tip-toeing up the sideline and around the pylon for a score.

-- A former St. Joseph coach made another return to the Midland Empire.

Brain Banker, who resigned the head coaching position at Lafayette following the 2004 season, serves an assistant coach at Hickman Mills. Now in his fourth year with the Cougars, Banker doesn’t make many appearances in Northwest Missouri anymore.

Hickman Mills plays in the Suburban League and saw Excelsior Springs and Kearney in recent years, but a 2006 playoff game at Benton is the only time Banker had come back to the MEC until Friday at Maryville. Banker will encounter former MEC foe Platte County in Platte City on Sept. 26.