Gridiron Guide: North-South matchups rule Week 8 schedule

It’s Week 8 in Southeast Missouri, and there are some wild out-of-conference matchups this weekend: three on Saturday, three on Friday, five against St. Louis-area schools and just one projected to be within three scores, but hey, them’s the breaks.

The top game of the week, by spread, is Kelly’s duel with Soldan International Studies on Saturday in St. Louis.

Back home, Scott City and Chaffee do battle for rivalry rights, and Cape Central matches up with a solid Lift For Life squad with Class 4 respect.

All predictions are based on computer data via CalPreps and consulting staff opinion.

Kelly at Soldan, noon Saturday

Kelly’s taking another trip up north into St. Louis, and this time it’ll be for a Saturday matchup with a not-so-spectacular Soldan International Studies squad.

With the Hawks entering as multi-score favorites against the Tigers, the hosting 1-5 Soldan’s unremarkable season bids well as Kelly looks to end a long losing streak.

Dropping three straight since a win against Kennett in Week 4, the Hawks are fresh out of SEMO Central play and look to grab another win off the table, sitting at just 2-5 so far.

Though the conference year got away from them quickly, the Hawks still have some hope for the postseason in a district that leaves much to be desired near the bottom, with plenty on the line.

For that purpose alone, it’ll be interesting to see how Kelly stacks up as a favorite for the first time in a while, expected to bring home a successful bounty on its latest road trip.

Prediction: Kelly 35, Soldan 21

Lift For Life at Cape Central, 7 p.m. Friday

Since the midpoint of the 2023 regular season, Cape Central has won 14 of 16 games, marking its territory as a premier force to be reckoned with in Class 5.

Those two losses have come only to teams with state titles this decade: Cardinal Ritter last season, with state titles in 2022 and 2023, and Jackson in 2020.

Pretty good company to be amongst when you’re looking to establish a foothold among the state’s best, win or lose. Outside of those games, Cape Central’s looked unstoppable as its 6-1 record ranks among the area’s best this season.

Against a team that’s been ranked at multiple points this season in Class 4, Cape Central enters Friday as a four-score favorite against Lift For Life.

After dismantling Farmington last Friday night, putting a 40-point walloping on the hosting Black Knights with SEMO North No. 2 rights on the line, the confidence is at a new high for the Tigers.

That being said, there’s still a lot to learn, and a lot to be told about this Cape Central team. Especially considering its path is blocked by Cardinal Ritter in district play.

With the playoffs looming, this is Cape Central’s last big test before the start of postseason play, and it shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Prediction: Cape Central 42, Lift For Life 14

Herculaneum at Perryville, 1 p.m. Saturday

The first quest for the Quad County Conference is winding down, and this week marks a big mile marker in keeping that journey alive for the Perryville Pirates.

After losing the in-town rivalry game to St. Vincent in Week 3, Perryville hasn’t controlled its destiny but has done well to maintain its one-loss record into Week 8.

The best hope for a conference title for the Pirates lies in the hopes Jefferson can defeat St. Vincent in Week 9, forcing a three-way tie for the conference crown.

But for that to happen, the Pirates have to win against Herculaneum this weekend, and they’ll look to do just that Saturday afternoon.

The Blackcats haven’t fared well against local competition, with St. Vincent similarly throttling them earlier this season, but that isn’t totally transitive to how Perryville will perform homecoming afternoon.

With a passing offense that’s quickly risen to rank among the very best in the area, there’s hope for Perryville in district play, and this’ll be another steppingstone toward proving its mettle for the postseason.

Against a heavy running attack, Perryville matches up well defensively and maintains a nice lead on the prediction entering Saturday.

Prediction: Perryville 35, Herculaneum 7

St. Vincent at Grandview, 7 p.m. Friday

As the runaway favorite for the QCC title, St. Vincent’s already done almost everything it needs to take home the conference title — almost, but not quite there just yet.

Two games remain on the schedule for the Indians, with a matchup against conference No. 3 Jefferson next week, and this week against Grandview.

Win or lose this week, the matchup with Jefferson will knock St. Vincent out of sole possession of the conference crown, but a win would likely at least guarantee it a share of the conference title.

Grandview hasn’t been overly impressive this season, with Perryville easily dispatching the squad 32-0 during hurricane season a few weeks back.

St. Vincent’s 7-0 record is a sight to behold, and that’ll make it a favorite in just about any matchup this season as the Indians go in as heavy favorites this week on the road.

Sharing first-place votes almost right down the middle with Marionville, there’s a chance if St. Vincent can strut its stuff this weekend, it’ll be enough to push the meter in favor of the Indians at No. 1 in Class 1.

With one of the top passing offenses seen in recent Southeast Missouri football history, there’d be plenty of justice in that decision.

Prediction: St. Vincent 47, Grandview 7

Chaffee at Scott City, 7 p.m. Friday

The only area-on-area matchup of the week, it’s the Scott City Rams on a two-game losing skid against the Chaffee Red Devils, winners of one game all season.

This season’s gotten away from Scott City, but that won’t keep it from entering this weekend as a heavy favorite against Chaffee, even if the Red Devils finally managed to piece together a winning score.

Putting up an immaculate 70 points against Veritas Christian last weekend, Chaffee looked as phenomenal as it possibly could offensively, with plenty of stats to back it up.

Like this one: Logan Horton ran for 302 yards, now well over the 700-yard rushing mark for the season as he’s exploded onto the scene among the area’s leading rushers.

But who’s already been there, and will continue to chug through opposing defenses? Rustyn Underwood, who’s eclipsed the 1000-yard mark for the 2024 season.

Scott City’s in a slump, but the Rams still have enough firepower to allow the computer to point to it as a heavy favorite this weekend.

Nevertheless, we’ve been wrong on Scott City once before this season, so you shouldn’t write this one in pen just yet as Chaffee looks to ramp its run up once more.

Prediction: Scott City 49, Chaffee 7

Jackson at Miller Career/Vashon, 2 p.m. Saturday

Conference play is finally over, and whether it came as a surprise or not, Jackson emerged, once again, as the runaway winner in the SEMO North after rolling over all but one conference foe.

Farmington gave Jackson a run for its money, but against Poplar Bluff, Cape Central and Sikeston, the Indians never looked back and proved why they’re winners of 29 straight conference games.

Going into this week against another St. Louis-area foe, the Miller Career and Vashon combo squad will host Jackson in a Saturday battle at Vashon.

The 2-4 Phoenix, operating under Miller Career’s banner in partnership with Vashon, haven’t exactly been the most jaw-dropping squad this season, but there’ve been bright spots.

For starters, the Phoenix clobbered a Soldan squad that Kelly is favored against 44-0 to start the season, making for half of its wins this season, albeit their only win on the field as the other came as a forfeit against TDW Prep.

So when Jackson goes up north, just a few blocks from where Kelly will be playing that same afternoon, the Indians will be a fairly-sized favorite.

After beginning the year 1-2, this week will likely mark the turn of 6-2 on the season going into a Week 9 home matchup against Festus, a squad that recently earned ranked recognition in Class 4.

Prediction: Jackson 49, Miller Career/Vashon 0