Week 7 Top 10: Jackson sends Cape Central spiraling; Caruthersville hammers Rams

Nothing drew more eyeballs last weekend than Cape Central’s big bash at home against Jackson, which became the headline of the weekend.

That being said, Central’s loss made some serious waves at the top of this week’s ranking, including a third team breaking into the No. 1 club this season.

Caruthersville strolled to a big-time win at Scott City, leaving no doubt who the top dog in the SEMO South should be going into Week 7, while Dexter steamrolled Kelly to take further control of SEMO Central.

Entering the final third of the regular season, there’s still plenty left to play for, even if conference play appears to be all but decided.

Here are the 2024 semoball area football power rankings for Week 7.

No. 1: St. Vincent (6-0, LW No. 2)

For the first time ever, it’s the Indians of St. Vincent debuting at the No. 1 position this week after Jackson’s huge victory over Cape Central. Week 6 action brought another hefty win back to Perryville, with the Indians taking a 56-21 win over Bayless that included four first-half interceptions, allowing the senior night crowd a peaceful second half as St. Vincent ran away with it. Though the gap is quite small, the No. 1 position comes out of respect for how mighty the Indians have looked so far this year. Though it’ll be controversial, it’s more than earned for a St. Vincent team that continues to rack up big wins.

No. 2: Jackson (4-2, LW No. 3)

There was a push for Jackson to make the No. 1 spot once more, but after knocking off Cape Central for the ninth year in a row, it’s just the No. 2 position, albeit very closely tailing this week’s No. 1. Jackson’s 42-6 victory over Cape Central was surprising, for sure, but the win itself is nothing short of the precedent that Jackson’s set in the past decade. Nobody seems to know Central better than these Indians, and they laid the hammer in Week 6 to solidify their SEMO North title hopes, which would be their seventh consecutive conference title. With Week 7’s game against Sikeston marking the end of conference play, it’s one last chance for Jackson to prove its mettle against a local squad before some late-season clashes with smaller St. Louis powers.

No. 3: Dexter (6-0, LW No. 4)

With such a marvelous start to the season, ranking No. 3 in Class 3 each of the past two weeks, Dexter’s rise to the No. 3 position comes at the fall of Cape Central, and it’s warranted. Hammering Kelly 48-8 over the weekend to get further in front of the pack in the SEMO Central, Dexter’s meteoric rise just gets hotter with the more wins it racks up. With Central’s loss, Dexter joins St. Vincent among the final two undefeated squads in the area. As the wins continue to pile up, so will the Bearcats’ case for a top-two position in the area. Still with some tough matchups left on the schedule, though, it won’t necessarily come easily.

No. 4: Cape Central (5-1, LW No. 1)

Cape Central stood atop the scene for the past two weeks, proving to be a fearsome squad that, especially after the St. Dominic victory, could have been simply unstoppable. That was until Jackson undid all of that with a 42-6 stomping on Cape’s home turf. After all of that hard work, it felt like a punch in the gut for the Central stock, but there’s still plenty of time for Cape to climb back up, including a Week 7 clash against Farmington, the obvious No. 3 in the SEMO North. If Cape Central can make a big statement at the Knights’ house Friday, it could be a major step in the right direction nearing the postseason.

No. 5: Perryville (5-1, LW No. 5)

Call it a Perryville Plateau. This is the position in which the Pirates have risen so far, so fast, but enter a massive doldrum in which it’s hard to escape. With St. Vincent, Jackson, Dexter and Cape Central ahead, all state-ranked (or close to state-ranked) powerhouses, Perryville’s impressed so far but not necessarily enough to leapfrog falling Cape Central. With a win over Jefferson, however, the Pirates are sitting pretty at No. 2 in the Quad County Conference and have an air of confidence about them going into the final three games of the regular season.

No. 6: Caruthersville (5-1, LW No. 7)

Last week was a massive step in the right direction for the confidence of the Caruthersville Tigers, taking down Scott City 28-0 to make a big statement among the Class 2 ranks. In a battle of teams receiving votes, Caruthersville smothered the Rams’ offense en route to a massive victory on the road, proving further that the Tigers’ defense ranks among the very best in Southeast Missouri. After a loss at Valle Catholic the week prior, the Tigers needed this kind of night, and they got it. For that, they’ll be rising across the board this week.

No. 7: Charleston (4-2, LW No. 8)

With such a huge matchup against Hayti, the stakes felt higher than ever and the Blue Jays lived up to the moment, holding the Indian offense to just one score in a tight 20-8 victory. Now putting together back-to-back wins, Charleston continues to push itself in the right direction as it continues its dark horse push for the SEMO South title. Week 7’s matchup at Scott City will be a massive meeting for both sides, but Charleston’s wins over Portageville and Hayti show that it should likely be the favorite despite the Rams’ home-field advantage. Nevertheless, the No. 7 versus No. 8 matchup will be a hard one to miss.

No. 8: Scott City (4-2, LW No. 6)

Scott City had a chance to make a major statement Friday night, but unfortunately for the Rams, it never came to fruition. Although the defense held Caruthersville to just 28 points, there was never a chance as the visiting Tigers pitched a shutout to give the Rams their second conference loss and effectively remove them from the conference title picture. It’s been a season of highs and lows for Scott City, last week being a harsh low. But against Charleston, in a battle of conference hopefuls, there’s one last chance for the Rams to get back into the picture against a one-loss conference foe.

No. 9: East Prairie (4-2, LW No. 10)

It’s a bye week that doesn’t actually count as a bye week for East Prairie, taking a whopping 13-0 forfeit victory over TDW Prep. Nevertheless, it’s win No. 4 on the year for an East Prairie team that’s come up gunning for anyone and everybody this season, rising out of nowhere to become a hopeful No. 2 in the SEMO Central this season. That being said, the only threat the Eagles have left for that No. 2 spot is Kelly, a team they so luckily play this week. Neither have a real shot at knocking off Dexter for the crown at this point, but East Prairie will be gunning for the silver in a matchup with the 2-4 Hawks this weekend, looking to get the fifth win in only seven weeks after finishing just 3-7 last season.

No. 10: Hayti (2-4, LW No. 9)

There’s a lot of story to tell behind this ranking. Yes, they’re 2-4. Yes, they’re on a two-game losing streak. But man, that schedule is tough, and the Indians continue to show promise even if it’s coming in losing form. In its latest loss, 20-8 to Charleston, Hayti’s defense became the hero of the night but couldn’t live up to the billing offensively. If both of those units can come together on a given night, this would be a dangerous squad. Because of that, Hayti continues to slip, now all the way down to No. 10 and hanging on to ranked status by a thread. At home against conference-leading Caruthersville this week, it’ll take exactly that to end a daunting slump.