TIGERS ON TRAIL OF INJURED PREY TONIGHT

Cape Girardeau Central football coach Jerry Dement has been around long enough to realize if something is too good to be true, it probably is.

So when told of first-year Oakville coach Todd Winter's plans to sit eight starters out of tonight's game against Central at Houck field because of injuries, Dement's response was understandable.

"I haven't heard that and I don't expect that," said a disbelieving Dement. "We watched them play last week and they weren't sitting out too many guys, so I don't know what that story is."

But that's the story the Oakville coach is sticking to as his 2-3 Tigers prepare to face the 4-1 Central Tigers at 7:30 p.m.

"We'd like to go to Cape and play our best (players), but we're not going to go down there and play guys that are hurt," Winter said in a telephone interview Tuesday afternoon.

Oakville has struggled with injuries for most of the year and with a conference game next week, Winter wanted to get some of his ailing starters another week of rest.

"We expect our two toughest games will be the next two weeks," said Winter. "We want to see our kids come out and make some plays, no matter who's playing

Oakville, 1-2 in the Suburban South Conference after two blowouts to the league's top teams Parkway South (49-0) and Parkway North (30-6), play Eureka next week. According to Winter, Oakville will play without its top two runners -- fullback Tim Washington (307 yards) and tailback Ron Coleman (335 yards) -- and three starters on the offensive line.

One player that will be in the lineup for Oakville is cornerback Brian Vinson (5-11, 160), who's allowed only two pass completions on defense. Other players to watch are tight end/defensive end Brian Moeckel (6-2, 240) and linebacker Mitch Marcus.

"We're really a young team," said Winter. "We expect next year to be a big year for us. We'd like to finish this year 5-5 and have a chance at districts."

Oakville, coming off an 0-10 season, looks like easy prey for the Tigers considering all of its injuries. But Dement knows his team needs to play another solid game before they get credit for a victory. Last year, Cape went to Oakville with a 4-1 record and came away with a close 21-19 decision.

"We watched (Oakville) play last week and we're going to prepare for what we've seen them do," Dement said. "I've never had anybody concede anything to me."

But Dement does understand why Winter may be holding some players out of this game to have them ready for more important battles later in the year. Dement wants to see his team continue to improve as district games draw closer.

"These last couple weeks are leading into the districts," Dement said. "Just like Oakville, we want to get better each week going into districts when the games really count."

The Tigers may have a hard time improving on last week's 40-21 win over Belleville (Ill.) Althoff. Central had big games from several players, led by area sack leader Ben Lowrance. The Tiger defensive end had two more sacks to give him eight on the year and picked up a blocked punt for his first touchdown.

"I don't know if that was our best game, but I thought we showed a lot of character and resolve," said Dement. "That was a big win for us to win up there in those conditions."

Tatum Kitchen had another solid defensive game with 12 tackles to give him 58 on the year and also recovered a fumble in the end zone. Central tailback Justin Blackmon enters this game third in the area with 672 yards on 91 carries.