High school football district semifinal previews

Class 4 District 1

Semifinal

(4) Central (4-6) at (1) Sikeston (9-1)

First round: Central 31, Festus 6; Sikeston 71, Perryville 7

Other semifinal: (3) North County (7-3) at (2) Hillsboro (8-2)

Outlook: This district semifinal is a rematch of a Week 7 meeting won by Sikeston, which rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit to win 25-21.

The loss was part of a five-game losing streak the Tigers ended with back-to-back wins against Festus in Weeks 9 and 10.

"I'm glad we were finally able to turn the corner a little bit and get a little bit of momentum and confidence," said Central coach Nathan Norman, whose squad looks to reach Monday's district championship round. "We're excited."

The Tigers were without running back Chris Martin in the first encounter with Sikeston, one of two full games the senior missed with a sprained ankle.

Martin played the last two games against Festus and proved himself healthy as the Tigers rode him hard. He combined for 350 yards on 61 carries, accumulating at least 170 yards in each game.

"Early in the year we kind of rotated some people, but right now we're trying to utilize what we feel is working the best for us," Norman said.

Martin has a team-leading 977 yards rushing.

Senior Jacob Campbell is second on the team with 830 yards, but he carried just two times for 4 yards last week while being rested a bit to heal from lingering injuries entering tonight's game.

Norman said both running backs are as healthy as they've been in some time.

The Tigers have relied heavily on the run all season, and trended further that way last week with 53 of their 61 plays on the ground. Central junior quarterback Dennis Vinson did complete five passes for 123 yards.

Sikeston crushed eighth-seeded Perryville in last week's district opener. The Bulldogs scored six touchdowns in the first quarter and led 71-0 at halftime.

Running back Chris Word continued a strong junior season with five touchdowns -- all in the first quarter. Word carried seven times for 88 yards and has 800 yards (5.1 ypc) this season. Senior quarterback Kyland Gross carried four times for 62 yards and has 1,378 yards (8.9 ypc).

Sikeston averages 295 yards rushing a game and 62 yards passing.

"It will be a great defensive battle," Norman said. "We've got our work cut out for us. They're very tough at quarterback and they have a very strong running back."

That duo combined for more than 300 yards rushing in the first encounter with Central. Word led the way with 190 yards and three touchdowns, including a 3-yard run midway through the fourth quarter that finally put Sikeston in the lead.

Norman said field position, acquired through special teams play, and turnovers will be a key to the outcome.

"It's going to boil down to which team makes the plays at the opportune time, and whoever can get focused and play for four quarters," Norman said.

Class 5 District 1

Semifinal

(4) Vianney (5-5) at (1) Jackson (6-2)

First round: Vianney 41, Poplar Bluff 15; Jackson bye

Other semifinal: (3) Fox (5-5) at (2) Rockwood Summit (6-3)

Outlook: This game is a rematch of a Week 2 meeting won by Jackson, and Indians' first-year coach Brent Eckley is looking for the Golden Griffins and star running back Markel Smith to arrive at Jackson High School with a bit of an attitude.

"I think they believe they didn't put their best foot forward, and I'm sure they're going to be excited to play against us the second time," Eckley said.

The visiting Indians held Smith to 7 yards on 14 carries in the 43-14 victory.

Those numbers look like a typo when put into context of Smith's junior season, which ranks among the best in the state this season.

The Division I recruit leads the St. Louis area with 2,342 yards rushing, according to stltoday.com, and has scored 29 touchdowns. He's averaging 9.1 yards per carry.

The Indians had a 12th defender when they faced Smith and the Griffins as the remnants of Hurricane Isaac made for miserable playing conditions.

Jackson held Vianney to 87 yards passing and 32 rushing.

"I think [the rain and wind] was a little bit of a factor because it made them pretty one dimensional," Eckley said. "They weren't able to throw the ball very well, and we didn't throw the ball very well in that game either. We had some short passes that turned into long passing plays."

Smith had rushed for 297 yards the week before facing Jackson, and he has posted some monster games since. His lowest rushing total outside the Jackson game was 153 yards against powerful CBC. He shredded Washington for 437 yards and Farmington for 403.

He warmed up for this week's game with a first-half workout against Poplar Bluff in the district opener last week. He ran for 188 yards on 20 carries and scored five touchdowns.

Vianney quarterback Garrett Staskewicz also completed 7 of 11 passes for 122 yards. Staskewicz has completed 48 percent of his 113 attempts for 763 yards.

"We're hopeful that we can play good defense against them again, but to hold [Smith] to [7 yards] on the night, we're certainly not counting on that," Eckley.

Eckley said holding the speedy, shifty Smith to 150 yards would be an accomplishment.

"We feel like if we held him there, our defense had done a pretty decent job," Eckley said.

The Indians are bracing for a steady pounding from Smith.

"That's the first thing they want to do," Eckley said. "We're hopeful that we can load the box a little bit and keep him in front of us."

As for Jackson, the Indians are playing just their second game in four weeks. They had an open date in Week 7 and a bye in Week 10.

"I don't think we've lost our rhythm with our kids," Eckley said. "I think we continue to improve, and we continue to work on fundamentals. We've been able to stay a little fresher. I don't think we're quite as beat down as some teams are at this point."

Eckley has turned to sophomore Dante Vandeven as his starting quarterback the past two games. Vandeven had a respectable showing in his starting debut in a loss to Columbia Hickman in Week 8, but he sizzled the following week in a 56-26 win against Francis Howell Central, completing 22 of 31 passes for 318 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for four more scores.

The Indians have a perfect split of their season average of 422 yards total offense -- 211 passing and 211 rushing.

Junior Colten Proffer has a team-high 759 yards rushing (6.8 ypc) but has been held to 178 yards and 4.1 yards per carry over the past three games since running for a career-high 208 against Central in Week 5. Ty Selsor, who moved from quarterback to receiver, is second on the team with 307 yards. Junior Garrett Miller is third with 242 yards but averages 14.2 yards per carry.

Senior Brannon Wright is the leading receiver in Southeast Missouri with 38 catches for 780 yards. Proffer is second on the team with 25 receptions for 315 yards. Junior Taylor Henson and senior Lowgn Wren also are in double figures for receptions.

Miller is the team's leading tackler from his linebacker spot with 91, while senior Jack Rushin is close behind with 83.

"We're going to have to limit the explosive plays, and stay in front of them, win third down on them, especially if we can get them into third and long, and at the same time we're going to have to get first downs on offense," Eckley said. "If we can do that, that will put the pressure on their offense as well as their defense to get the ball back into their playmaker's hands."

Class 2 District 1

Semifinal

(5) Scott City (5-4) at (1) Caruthersville (7-2)

First round: Scott City 46, Jefferson 22; Caruthersville 48, East Prairie 14

Other semifinal: (3) Charleston (8-2) at (2) Malden (8-2)

Outlook: Scott City overcame two lightning delays to reach the five-win level for the second consecutive year under fourth-year coach Jim May. The Rams have not won six games since the 2006 season.

The Rams will need an upset to reach that total.

"We've got our work cut out for us," Scott City coach Jim May said. "We're going to have to play extremely well to be able to compete. Hopefully we can do that. We feel like we played our best game of the year last week, and hopefully we can build on that."

Caruthersville's lone losses have come to state-ranked teams. The Tigers lost 48-12 to unbeaten Mountain View in their season opener, and lost 21-20 to Class 3 power Ste. Genevieve in Week 9.

The Tigers have rushed for 2,498 yards and thrown for 709.

Junior Darrell Monroe leads the Tigers with 830 yards rushing and averages 9.6 yards per carry.

"He's probably the best athlete in Southeast Missouri," May said. "He's pretty tough to handle and deal with. We've dealt with [Romello] McCoy of Malden and the backs from Portageville. They're all kind of similar backs, but he's probably the best one."

Monroe is around 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds.

"He's a big kid, and he's fast," May said.

Monroe's rushing totals have been a bit erratic. He broke loose for 363 yards on 19 carries in a Week 2 win against Malden, but he then took a helmet to the shin the following week and sat out the final three quarters and the next two games. He's been used as needed the rest of the season, which included 145 yards on 17 carries against Ste. Genevieve.

He carried just one time for 11 yards last week against East Prairie as Caruthersville had nine players carry the ball and used a freshman quarterback much of the game against the winless Eagles.

"They're saving him for whenever they need him most," May said. "I hope we get a big dose of him because that means we're in the game. If he doesn't do very much against us, that probably means we didn't play very well."

Caruthersville junior quarterback Tyler Grissom has rushed for 551 yards (5.1 ypc). The Tigers' running attack also contains dangerous weapons in junior Jamal Johnson (276 yards, 6.2 ypc) and freshman Rodrick Jones (299 yards, 10.7 ypc)

Grissom has completed 51 percent of his 104 attempts for 676 yards. His top receiver is senior Hunter Dickey, who has 14 receptions for 181 yards. Senior Steven Rodgers also has double figures in receptions.

Senior Kendall Pittman leads the defense with 59 solo tackles and 77 overall and senior Kenneth Pittman is second with 67. Kenneth leads the team with seven sacks and Kendall has five. The Tigers average three sacks a game.

Scott City has its own rushing weapon in senior Travis Phillips, who rushed for 219 yards last week to run his season total to 1,257 yards (5.5 ypc). Senior fullback Zach Haynes is second with 332 yards.

Rams senior quarterback Jonathan McFall did not attempt a pass last week but ran four times for 80 yards to increase his season total to 327 yards.

Scott City collected all 391 yards of its offense against Jefferson on 45 rush attempts.

The Rams are in need of another strong game up front, as well as everywhere else.

"We're going to have to play extremely well," May said. "We can't make mistakes. We can't turn the ball over. We have to get first downs, move the chains and use the clock, and we have to tackle defensively better than we have at any point this year. Defensively, we have to play our best game, without a doubt."

-- Jeff Breer