Within the excitement and pressure surrounding opening night of the football season, the most elementary rule of the game can be easily forgotten:

Don't drop the ball.

Cape Girardeau Central and Columbia-Hickman are keeping the rule in mind as they prepare for their 1998 opener tonight at Houck Stadium. Game time is 7:30.

"You can expect the team that turns it over the least to win," Hickman coach Gregg Nesbitt said. "We want to minimize mistakes and hang onto the ball."

Of course, any team is going to try to win the turnover war, but Central proved that it can while going 7-3 last year.

Although the Tigers start several inexperienced players on both lines, they have talent and experience at the skill positions.

Frank McGinty, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound senior, returns at quarterback for the Tigers. McGinty was intercepted only three times in 135 pass attempts last year.

McGinty has a familiar target at which to throw, 5-7, 155-pound senior wingback Chris Allen.

"We think our most exciting receiver is Chris Allen," Central coach Jerry Dement said. "He's one of those kids who has a lot of wiggle in him, and he's fast."

Running backs Demarco Williams (6-0, 210) and Emmanuel Harris (5-9, 200), who both saw playing time last year, will get most of the carries this year.

"If you don't wrap (Williams) and you lose sight of that little flanker," Nesbit said, "they'll score in a hurry."

The Tigers will come after Hickman in its typical attacking 4-6 defensive alignment, hoping to out-quick the Kewpies, who are not exceptionally big on the offensive line, averaging 220 pounds.

Where Hickman is concerned, not dropping the ball means not blowing a lead. The Kewpies were one of Missouri's top Class 5A teams last year, but their record of 6-6 did not reflect it.

They started the season 0-5: they blew a 14-0 lead against this year's odds-on state favorite, Blue Springs; they blew a 14-3 lead and lost to Blue Springs South on a 46-yard field goal with four minutes to play; and they coughed up a 14-0 lead against Parkway Central, the eventual state runner-up.

With the wind out of their sails, the Kewpies were waxed by Jefferson City, the eventual state champs, and dropped another close game against McCluer before righting the ship.

"That was the most difficult situation I've been in," Nesbitt said. "We were solid. I kept telling the kids to keep their heads up."

Hickman may be able to use play action to take advantage of the aggressive Tigers defense.

"Our best opportunity against those guys may be to get their eyes in the backfield," Nesbitt said. "Cape is very, very strong in the secondary (Allen, Harris and Mitch Ogles return). They're going to take away some of the things we want to do."

Hickman was hit hard by graduation at the skill positions, but returns several impact players, most notably senior linebackers Jeremy Wooden (6-3, 232) and Dallas Nobles (6-5, 210).

Scheduling Central for the first time in recent memory, Hickman dropped Blue Springs. The Tigers dropped Farmington, who they had handled rather easily in openers the past several years. Hickman should provide Central a good barometer to measure its '98 team.

"Playing Hickman gives them that opportunity," Nesbitt said. "It gives them a good measuring stick early in the season. I think Cape will be the class of Southeast Missouri."

Hickman, with 3,000 students, has superior depth.

"It will be a good challenge for us," Dement said. "But we also realize the beginning of the season is not as important as the end. We want to go in, make as few mistakes as possible, and hopefully we'll win the game."