High school football Week 2: Jackson, Vianney cross paths again

Vianney (1-0) at Jackson (1-0)

Last week: Vianney 42, Francis Howell North 28; Jackson 47, North County 13

Last year: Jackson 43, Vianney 14 (regular season); Jackson 54, Vianney 14 (Class 5 District 1 semifinal)

Outlook: It hasn't exactly been an NHL playoff series, but Jackson and Vianney are getting to know each other intimately. Jackson coach Brent Eckley will be coaching his 12th game at Jackson tonight, and he already will be facing the Golden Griffins for the third time.

The two teams could also meet later this season in district play, as they did last year.

"We've had success, but from my scenario, and I'm sure the Vianney coaches feel the same way, generally it's not good to play someone more than one time in a season, and that's the negative," Eckley said. "Yeah, we've had success against them, but sometimes you get a little familiar with each other. It just ends up rubbing people the wrong way."

The Golden Griffins have yet to beat an Eckley-led Jackson squad. Vianney, which returns ground-gobbling senior Markel Smith and many others, entered the season ranked 10th in Class 5 after a 5-6 season in which it lost twice decisively to Jackson. The Indians are not ranked, despite returning much of the talent from last year's 7-3 squad that beat the Griffins by a combined 69 points in the two meetings.

Smith, 5-foot-10 and 215 pounds, is being recruited heavily by Division I schools, including Missouri. He rushed for 2,342 yards as a junior, but only a small portion of that came against Jackson. The Indians held Smith to 195 yards combined in both games. That number was held down by a 14-yard performance (seven carries) in Week 2 in monsoon conditions, but Jackson still limited Smith to 181 yards on 31 carries in the district semifinal rematch.

"I'm sure Friday night he'll be excited to play against us again, to see if he can do better," Eckley said. "He ran really hard against us last year in our second game. He was a physical ball carrier and difficult to deal with. I think we just got ahead and it took him out of the game."

Vianney has rewired its offense under a new coach, scrapping a pro-style attack for a spread. It's a more balanced attack under returning senior quarterback Garrett Staskewicz, who completed 7 of 16 passes last week for 209 yards and three TDs, according to stltoday.com.

Smith had 163 yards rushing in last week's season opener (7.4 ypc) and caught three passes for an additional 128 yards. He scored four TDs -- two rushing, two receiving.

"He looks as explosive [as last year], if not more," Eckley said about Smith. "It'll be a big challenge for us."

He added, "If we can keep him under 150, that's probably going to keep him in check for as many touches he will get. We'll just have to see. It's going to be important for our guys to rally to the ball and have great pursuit, because he's going to break tackles so we have to have more guys there."

Smith runs behind an offensive line that averages 261 pounds, and the Griffins have two 6-foot-4 tight ends.

"They're a big group," Eckley said.

Sophomore receiver Ethan Staskewicz, had two catches for 77 yards and a TD last week.

In Week 1, Jackson totalled 486 yards of offense -- 373 rushing -- and surrendered 362 yards, including 259 passing. It's rushing defense allowed just 102 yards on 39 carries.

Indians quarterback Dante Vandeven started his junior season with 147 yards rushing and three TDs. He also completed 13 of 15 passes for 113 yards. Seven Indians caught passes.

Senior Garrett Miller led Jackson with 176 yards rushing in the absence of senior running back Colten Proffer, who tried to play through a sprained ankle before exiting on the first series. Proffer, who led the team with 925 yards rushing a junior, has been practicing all week and is probable.

"He's been limited in some spots and the explosiveness ... it's not 100 [percent]," Eckley said. "It's better than it was last week. It's gotten better every day."

Central (0-1) at St. Charles West (0-1)

Last week: John Burroughs 28, Central 7; Fort Zumwalt North 28, St. Charles West 6.

Last year: Central 28, St. Charles West 7

Outlook: The teams have met two of the last three seasons, with Central winning in 2010 and 2012.

Central hopes to retrace last year's steps when it rebounded from an opening loss to a highly ranked John Burroughs squad.

"It's a momentum game," Central coach Nathan Norman said. "It's a game we need to win and we need to play well. Last week was kind of an odd situation with the heat, and John Burroughs was a very quality opponent. We just need to move on. This is a big game for us to get a right start and get some confidence going."

The Tigers found themselves tied at halftime with Burroughs last week, and Norman was left with a mixed bag of good and bad after losing two 1,000-yard rushers from last year's team.

"I think the biggest positive was probably our offensive backfield. I thought those guys played well," Norman said.

Junior Braion Owens led a rushing attack that totaled 166 yards with 15 carries for 73 yards, while Mikey Jones had 14 rushes for 58 yards.

Senior quarterback Dennis Vinson was 2 of 11 passing for 59 yards.

The offense had a 50-yard play negated with a penalty, but the Tigers emerged healthy.

"Key for us is for our kids to play like they practice, and settle down and relax and play like they're coached. Then we'll have success," Norman said. "I think they get out in the game and they lose their focus and worry too much about making mistakes instead of doing what they're supposed to do and what they do in practice."

St. Charles West has a ground-oriented attack, led by returning senior quarterback Kyle Anders. The Warriors were thwarted last week with fewer than 100 yards of total offense, mounting just 77 yards rushing on 23 carries. Blake Rugraff led the way with 31 yards on six carries.

Anders was just 3 of 11 passing for 12 yards.

"The other team was pretty good," Norman said.

Chaffee (1-0) at St. Pius (0-1)

Last week: Chaffee 58, Grandview 14; Portageville 39, St. Pius 21

Last year: St. Pius 16, Chaffee 8 (2OT)

Outlook: Chaffee's offense mounted 308 yards in the first half last week before junior quarterback Peyton Montgomery handed off the keys to backups.

Montgomery displayed both passing accuracy and quick feet before departing. He rushed and scrambled for 89 yards on five carries and completed 8 of 13 passes for 127 yards. The uptempo spread offense of the Red Devils averaged 10.6 yards a play against an overmatched Grandview squad in the first half.

The defense also was stout, surrendering just 138 yards of offense. It yielded less than a yard a carry on Grandview's 23 rushes.

St. Pius should present a better challenge after putting up 21 points against Portageville. However, the Warriors did yield 39 points to a Portageville team that lost most of its major offensive weapons from last year's 9-2 team.

The Warriors are ground oriented with their Wing-T offense. Chaffee coach Charlie Vickery said St. Pius has good size up front and was impressed with their resiliency in Week 1. The Warriors fell behind 25-0 in the first quarter and outscored Portageville 21-14 the remainder of the game."

"I think they're a much better team this year than they were last year," Vickery said.

Senior Chris Filer and sophomore Tryson Thornton are expected to be primary offensive weapons for the Warriors, who have a big offensive line.

"They're going to pound it out because they have a lot of confidence in their running game," Vickery said.

St. Vincent (0-1) at Scott City (0-1)

Last week: Sumner 12, St. Vincent 8; Herculaneum 13, Scott City 0

Last year: Scott City 29, St. Vincent 20

Outlook: A first win of the season is up for grabs between two teams that had problems finding points in Week 1.

The struggles were not entirely unexpected. The Rams started freshman Braden Cox at quarterback. He completed 3 of 5 passes for 65 yards. However, the Rams' top three rushers collected just 41 yards on 17 carries. Caleb Sykes led Scott City with 26 yards on nine carries.

St. Vincent's attack is led by sophomore quarterback Joe Whistler, who made his first varsity start vs. Sumner, and features senior senior running back Alex Winkler.

Scott City coach Jim May referred to Winkler as one of the better backs in Southeast Missouri.

"He looked really good on film [against Sumner]," May said. "They just didn't get into the end zone. He'll be a handful."

Lift For Life (0-1) at Perryville (1-0)

Last week: McCluer/S. Berkeley 44, Lift For Life 0; Perryville 26, East Prairie 12

Last year: Perryville 13, Lift For Life 12

Outlook: Perryville managed to extend East Prairie's losing streak to 18 games, but did not do so convincingly.

The Pirates surrendered 300 yards of offense while mounting 245 of their own. Pirates senior Cody Crawford paced an effective running game with 103 yards on 11 carries. Perryville, which finished with 168 yards rushing, averaged 5.4 yards on its 31 attempts.

The Pirates also need better ball security after losing three fumbles in the opener.

"Our kids kept scratching and clawing and digging when we fell behind," Perryville coach Mike Wojtczuk said, noting a positive that came out of the game. "Then once we got back on top, we maintained the lead and put them away in the second half."

Not much is known about Class 3 Lift For Life, which was 0-9 last year including a forfeit. The program graduated quarterback A.J. Robertson, who was the main weapon on offense last season.

-- Jeff Breer