Inductees

The 1982 Maryville High School Spoofhound football team set the town and surrounding area on fire with its electrifying run to the Class 3 state championship.

But that year’s group of seniors, and a former coach, already had an idea something special was on its way.

“We knew 1982 could be special after an undefeated freshman season in 1979,” said Jon Baldwin, quarterback of the state championship team. “Freshman head coach, the late Tom Stephens, predicted we could be state champions our senior year. We built on that freshman success, culminating in the state championship season of 1982.”

The Spoofhounds rode a balanced offense and a suffocating defense to the title, buying in to coach Mike Jordan’s philosophies of a conservative game plan, an aggressive defense and being open to input and gametime decisions. That’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted the Maryville 1982 Football Team with the Class of 2025.

“We practiced hard, played hard and had to be mentally and physically ready each game,” Jordan said.

Maryville started the season with a loss to Shenandoah, Iowa but weren’t discouraged.

“Shenandoah was always a state contender in Iowa, and we played one-score games with them every year,” Jordan said.

The Spoofhounds reeled off 12 consecutive wins. The regular season ended with a thrilling victory to capture the school’s first Midland Empire Conference championship since 1977. The playoff run included an upset of St. Pius X in the opener, a win over Boonville in the quarterfinals and a rally to beat Republic in the semifinals.

“Pius was a fun battle on their crowned field,” said Mike Turner, a senior on the team. “Excellent hitting, and we earned every yard on offense. I think our toughness learned from a couple close conference games helped.”

The win over Republic stands out as probably the toughest challenge.

“I believe the Republic game was the real state championship,” Baldwin said. “They were fast, they were physical. We started that game slow but when we scored late in the first half and Coach Jordan opted to fake the extra point for a two-point conversion, that galvanized us for the second half. We had to come from behind to win that game.”

Those playoff wins were also made a sweeter for Jordan, who said folks didn’t give the team much of a chance.

“The media always picked us as the underdog, and we really enjoyed proving them wrong,” he said.

That set up the state championship game at Arrowhead Stadium against Duchesne, a team that Frank Grispino, a sophomore, said offered plenty of motivation.

“The team we played was from St. Louis. They were condescending in the hotel, acting like they were playing a bunch of country boys that didn’t have a chance playing a big city team,” he said. “That made people mad and victory sweeter.”

In the championship game, the Spoofhounds generated 254 yards of total offense, with quarterback Baldwin throwing for 119 yards on 11-of-27 passing and Frank Grispino and Paul Barger combining for 96 yards rushing. Maryville set the tone early, taking the opening drive 59 yards in 13 plays to score the first touchdown.

“Playing and winning a state championship in an NFL venue? It was like a dream come true,” Baldwin said. “It was the perfect way to end a dream season. By the way, the worn-out turf was hard as a rock, but we didn’t care. The Maryville fans who made the trip to sit in the cold and rain were loud. It seemed like the stadium was full of Spoofhounds cheering for us.”

The defense pitched the shutout, holding Duchesne to just 112 yards of offense. It was the fourth shutout of the season for the Spoofhounds.

Forty-three years later, the memories of that team are still strong, but the former players say the friendships they built are just as lasting.

“We were all friends. We had a lot of fun that year,” Grispino said. “That level of team chemistry is something you don’t see often. I think it got us through the tougher parts of the season and tough games and made the wins even better. We’re still close 43 years later.”

The state championship also allowed Jordan to finally have a great comeback for anyone who make a joke about Maryville’s unique mascot.

“The media was always asking me, ‘What is a Spoofhound anyway?’” he said. “Finally, after the championship game, I replied, ‘The Spoofhounds are the Class 3A state champions!’