Cape Central, Jackson football teams brace for rivalry game

It's a game that fans and players alike mark on their calendars at the beginning of the season.

Jackson vs. Cape Central.

The 109th meeting between the two schools kicks off at 7 p.m. today at The Pit in Jackson, and while the rivalry is infused with new life every year, it's just another SEMO North Conference opponent for each team to measure itself against.

"Just like every week, we focus on that specific opponent, so two weeks ago, we weren't talking about Cape," Jackson coach Brent Eckley said. "Last week, we weren't talking about Cape. Just like this week, we're not talking about Sikeston. So by keeping them in that routine, I think that helps keep the kids focused on the task at hand and not making it bigger than it needs to be."

Central claimed a 31-21 win in last year's showdown when the two state-ranked teams gathered at Central High School in front of a crowd of more than 7,000 people. The Tigers have won three of the last five meetings and lead the all-time series 59-42-7.

"We try to keep it the same as far as what we do in practice, but it's a very important game," Central coach Nathan Norman said. "Any time you have a big rivalry game, you know your kids are excited about it. We try to stay as focused as we can on the imporant things like technique and our gameplan and execution because that's what's going to win the game for either side, and that's what you have to spend your time on."

Jackson (2-3, 2-0 SEMO North) started the season 0-3 but has righted itself with conference wins over Farmington and Poplar Bluff, respectively. Eckley said winning the turnover battle has been key to his team's recent success and believes his offense has shown more efficiency.

"We've been pretty good, pretty solid in the red zone," Eckley said. "We've also converted a pretty fair number of third-and-mediums, third-and-longs, as well as fourth downs, we've converted several of them that we've went for. Those have been pretty critical to us getting scores, as well as keeping the ball out of the other team's hands."

Landry Moore continues to lead the Indians' passing game after another impressive performance in last week's 50-48 road win over the Mules. Moore finished 19-of-29 passing for 257 yards and four touchdowns, including a 27-yard pass to Jeremy Elliott that proved to be the game-winning score late in the fourth quarter.

Elliott leads the Indians in receiving. He hauled in 11 catches for 182 yards and three scores against Poplar Bluff.

"To me, they play extremely hard. They're well-coached, and they listen to their coaches and perform," Norman said about Jackson. "Offensively, they run precise routes, and the quarterback gets rid of the ball when he's supposed to. And they catch the football.

"What people fail to mention is they've got some athletes on the offensive side of the ball who can move and catch and run after the catch. They're a big threat for any team, especially some of their offensive skill positions."

Ethan Laster had a team-leading 15 carries for 120 yards against the Mules while Triston Thele, who also plays at quarterback, had 15 rushes for 66 yards and two scores. Bryndan Reid added 56 yards rushing on 13 carries.

Gabriel Dudley tallied a team-high nine solo tackles last week, and Payne Guillams had a pair of interceptions to go along with five solo tackles.

"Defensively they're always going to be well-coached, and they're technically sound," Norman said. "They make you beat them. They're not going to beat themselves, so that's what you've got to do."

Central (2-3, 1-1) has yet to string together a winning streak this season and continues searching for consistency on offense. The Tigers have lost their three games by a combined nine points, including last week's 38-35 loss to Class 5 Ladue Horton Watkins.

"We've been in this situation before. Two years ago, we started 1-4 and ended up playing in the [state] semifinals," Norman said. "We try to use that as motivation for these kids because mentally it's tough for a high school kid's confidence level to lose a game, but in reality, it can help you if you're mentally tough enough to handle it as a team. ... You can look at it as a blessing because it makes you re-evaluate what's going on and makes you focus on things to get better, but it can also hurt you. That's what we try to overcome as coaches, to keep their attitudes high and their energy levels up."

The Tigers are led by wide receiver Al Young, who had 18 touches for 145 yards and two scores last week against the Rams. He also returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. Sophomore running back Aaron Harris had a career-night in last week's loss, running for 210 yards on 24 carries, while quarterback Kway'Chon Chisom had seven carries for 72 yards and two touchdowns. Chisom also finished 3-of-7 passing for 72 yards and a score.

"They are really big up front," Eckley said about the Tigers, who feature three returning starters on their interior offensive line. "They're a good team at running downhill. They just do a great job at running the football. They're good on the line of scrimmage. Their running back runs really physically hard.

"... When [Young] comes in, he runs tough, too. It's difficult to get a good shot on him. He's so good in open space. Their quarterback is really athletic. He's got a strong arm. He's really good at beating teams with his feet.

Linebacker Corey Starks had a team-high eight tackles for loss against Ladue while linebacker Trevon McClard and Chisom, a defensive back, each tallied five tackles. Defensive end Sam Lemon finished with four tackles, including two behind the line of scrimmage.

"Defensively they have some good size inside, especially at defensive end," Eckley said. "They're very athletic on the backside in the secondary. We'll have to do a good job of making smart decisions, or they're going to take some balls from us. Then at linebacker, it looks like they're really well-prepared and disciplined."

The two teams enter tonight's game with identical records for the first time since 2009 when Jackson defeated Central 20-13 in a game that featured two 0-9 squads.

Both city's mayors have even agreed on a friendly wager.

The city's mayor of the winning team will watch the other cut a $500 personal check to the Greater Cape Girardeau Area Community Foundation grantmaking program for use in Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City. The local foundation is one of 49 affiliates of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. No city funds will be used for the private donation.

"It's a good rivalry," Eckley said. "It's not one of those hated rivals, and I think that's a good thing for kids and for our communities. But it seems like everybody is still very involved with the success of the two programs that we've had in the last couple years, and I think that's helped bring it more into the light."