Football

Following a year of missing out on gathering with friends and family due to the COVID pandemic, everyone, including sports fans, is anxious to spend time with those closest to us once again.

Mark Panagos finished his freshman season at Scott City with three rushing touchdowns, two receiving touchdowns, and a total of 226 yards in a playoff game against New Madrid County Central. That was good enough to get invited to and participate at the U.S. National Team Combine hosted by USA Football. The event was held on Sunday at the training facility of the Dallas Cowboys in Frisco, TX...

BENTON, Mo. — They aren’t straying far from each other, at least for the next four years. That is the mindset of Kelly football players Keaton Fitzgerald and DJ Parker, who both signed to Central Methodist University over the past two weeks. Fitzgerald signed Friday, while Parker put pen-to-paper on Feb. 25...

EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. — It's the end of a long run. For the first time in nine years, the East Prairie football program will look for a new head coach. Current head coach Chad Jamerson accepted a new position at Cape Central and will coach under Kent Gibbs starting in 2021...

SIKESTON — Ritenour head coach Kyle Wagner will be taking over the Sikeston football program, according to a press release from Sikeston R-6. Wagner was hired July 1, 2020, as the head coach at Ritenour, but the Huskies did not compete in the fall due to COVID-19...

SIKESTON — Sikeston is nearing a decision for its head football coach opening, according to athletic director Andy McGill. McGill confirmed with the Standard-Democrat on Tuesday that there are four individuals that they are going to interview for the position...

Gavyn Hays didn’t start playing football until his freshman year of high school. He recently signed National Letter of Intent to play college football at Quincy University. “Just a wonderful young man, awesome in the weight room,” Poplar Bluff coach David Sievers said. “One thing that I can say about Gavyn is that he is incredibly passionate about playing the game of football, and I know he is the same way about wrestling.”...

SIKESTON — Sikeston head football coach Terry Flannigan and softball coach Laura Brown resigned on Tuesday afternoon. Flannigan went 6-14 in two seasons since returning to Sikeston, while Brown went 33-52 in four seasons with the softball program. “Our athletic department is thankful to Coach Flannigan and Coach Brown for their dedication to our student-athletes and their respective programs,” Sikeston athletic director Andy McGill said. ...

When Jeff Bullock stepped down as varsity football coach at Portageville in January 2019 to accept the position of Superintendent at Malden he did not expect to return to the gridiron. “When I got out at Portageville a couple years ago I genuinely thought I was finished coaching,” Bullock said. “But there are just some things that are in your blood. I’m really looking forward to getting back into it again.”...

MISSOURI MEDIA ALL-STATE TEAM As selected by a 10-member panel of media members from around the state. Players listed with year, height, weight and school: First Team Offense QB: Javan Noyes, sr., 5-7, 190, Mid-Buchanan ATH: Jayce Haven, sr., 6-1, 190, Thayer...

Hunter Jenkins tore a muscle in his right bicep along with two ligaments making a tackle in the third game of the season. “It was bad,” the Poplar Bluff junior said recently. “The doctors told me I’d be out for the rest of the season.” If he took another shot to the arm it could require surgery, Jenkins said...

Perryville senior quarterback Evan Daugherty signed on Tuesday to play football at Culver Stockton College.

BENTON, Mo. — There weren’t many defensive plays that Kelly senior linebacker Keaton Fitzgerald wasn’t involved in over his four years on the football field. His senior year was no different, as Fitzgerald guided a defense that allowed 12 points per game and pitched four shutouts. The 12 points against was the lowest in program history, and the four shutouts tied for first with the 2018 team...

School… New Madrid County Central Grade… Junior Position… Defensive back Favorite place to play… New Madrid County Central Favorite warmup song… “Dead Trollz” - YoungBoy NBA Favorite pregame meal… Chicken Favorite memory from football… When Kenyon got ran over by Shawn Long...

NEW MADRID, Mo. — To say that New Madrid County Central running back Quazavion Jackson had a good career would be an understatement. After a season that saw him rush for 1,378 yards on 178 carries and 23 touchdowns, Jackson earned more than his fair share of accolades...

School… New Madrid County Central Grade… Junior Position… Quarterback Favorite place to play… New Madrid County Central Favorite warmup song… Any Youngboy NBA song Favorite pregame meal… Spaghetti Favorite memory from football… First touchdown pass at East Prairie last year...

Veteran Southeast Missouri State football coach Tom Matukewicz had already coached college football for six seasons when the latest Redhawk recruits were born, so he has enough experience in building a roster to know not to complicate the matter too much.

POPLAR BLUFF - Jackson teammates stood on the stage as finalists for the coveted Carr Trophy and Derland Moore Award during the 75th Gridiron Banquet at the Black River Coliseum on Wednesday.

Moments after leading the Jackson High School football team to the 2020 MSHSAA Class 5 state championship earlier this month, senior linebacker Bryce Norman was subdued in his celebration.

The success of an athlete or coach achieves in competition always is founded on their ability to adapt.

If you think the global pandemic wreaked havoc on your job, try being a recruiting coordinator for a college football program. “Well,” Southeast Missouri State recruiting coordinator and wide receivers coach Justin Drudik sighed on Monday, “I mean,” he then took another breath, “it went good but it’s been very different.”

Numerous times throughout the 2020 football season, veteran Jackson High School football coach Brent Eckley lauded Indian senior linebacker, Bryce Norman, as “the best linebacker in the state.”

It remains unclear as to what the intentions of the late (and oh, so great) Johnny Cash were in heading to “Jackson,” but one thing is for certain if he would have visited the town of that name in Southeast Missouri he had better have been prepared to see something victorious (and to fight traffic on a Friday night).

Jackson’s football team finished this season at the same place as last season — in the MSHSAA Class 5 State Championship Game. Unlike last year, the Indians completed the job and won their first title in school history. Daniel Dickerson proved to be the difference...

In the moments following his team completing a season that was dominating of all opposition faced, Jackson High School football coach Brent Eckley could have accepted the praise that was coming his way – and with good reason – he deserved all of it and then some. However, in a brutally honest comment, Eckley, who had just guided the Indians to a 42-7 beating of Platte County in the MSHSAA Class 5 State Final, turned the acclaim towards his players.

More than likely, last week was the most pressure-packed week of Rhet Liley’s young life and the fact he was competing in the biggest sports moment of his life was only part of the reason for that.

The difference between the Jackson football teams through the early seasons under Indian coach Brent Eckley and the 2020 version, which just finished making a mockery of its high school opposition throughout this state, isn’t so much seen on the offensive side of the ball as it was the defensive side.

The finalists for the Carr Trophy given to the top player in the SEMO Conference were announced Wednesday, a week before the award will be presented at the 75th annual Gridiron Banquet. Jordan Jarrett of Kennett, Jackson’s Connor Tollison and Cael Welker are up for the award given annually since 1979...

JEFFERSON CITY — Jackson dominated Platte County in all three phases of the game in Saturday’s 42-7 victory in the MSHSAA Class 5 Football State Final at Helias Catholic High School. “As a team,” veteran Indian coach Brent Eckley said following the win, “I thought we played really hard (and) I thought we played really physical. We were competitive.”...

MISSOURI MEDIA RANKINGS A look at rankings from a 10-member panel of media members from around the state with current record, points based on votes with first place votes in parentheses and last week’s ranking. Only teams that have played games this season are eligible...

ALL-SEMO CONFERENCE Members of the All-SEMO Conference football team as selected by the conference coaches with a player's school, year, height and weight listed: NORTH OFFENSE QB — Cael Welker, Jackson, sr., 5-11, 185; RB — Daniel Dickerson, Jackson, sr., 5-11, 200;...

JEFFERSON CITY – Veteran Jackson High School football coach Brent Eckley has enough experience in his profession, and respect for Platte County’s team, to comprehend that Saturday’s MSHSAA Class 5 State Final battle between the Indians and Pirates would be just that: a battle.

JEFFERSON CITY – When Brent Eckley took over as the coach of the Jackson football program in 2012, his hiring made an immediate impact on the Indians’ offense, which made a quick impression on the victories achieved.

Throughout this historic five-year reign of terror by the Jackson football program on high school football teams throughout Southeast Missouri and beyond, the Indians have overwhelmed opponents with their explosiveness offensively. However, that potent production has been ratcheted up to an insane level this fall.

The Jackson High School football program has run roughshod over every opponent that has stepped on the field this season.

O’FALLON — Jackson football coach Brent Eckley had barely been able to take a breath and enjoy his team’s recent MSHSAA Class 5 Semifinal romp over Fort Zumwalt North when he was already being asked about the next challenge on the Indians’ schedule.

C5D1 champion Jackson Indians (13-0) meets C5D8 champion Platte County Pirates (12-1) on Saturday, December 5 at 1:00 pm at Ray Hentges Stadium, home field of Helias Catholic High School in Jefferson City. The stadium, dedicated in 2017, is named for the retired Hentges, who coached Helias’ Crusaders for 33 years, winning Class 4A state titles under his leadership in 1984 and 1998. Helias is now coached by Chris Hentges, Ray’s son...

O’FALLON - Fort Zumwalt North came into Friday’s MSHSAA Class 5 Football Semifinal against Jackson having won 11 consecutive games and it did that on the strength of its run game. So, it was no surprise when Panther senior quarterback Jack Newcomb gained 11 yards on his first play from scrimmage.

O’FALLON - I have been blessed throughout my career to have covered some tremendous high school football programs and athletes. Prior to my arrival in Cape Girardeau, I spent a decade in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where I detailed the Friday night exploits of eight state champions and athletes that ultimately got paid a lot of money to play this game, such as Jaylon Smith, Tyler Eifert, and Drue Tranquill...

The goal of every coach in every sport is to have their team performing to its potential when the stakes are the highest and in the case of the Fort Zumwalt North football squad, it is doing just that.

In the past two seasons, only two teams (Vianney and Carthage) have given Jackson competitive football games and in both instances, those teams beat the Indians.

After going to Chaminade and exercising the Red Devils 63-22, the Jackson football squad will return to the MSHSAA Class 5 Semifinal round for the second consecutive season.

ST. LOUIS - Midway into Saturday’s Class 3 state quarterfinal the Kennett Indians football squad looked poised to overtake the Cardinal Ritter Lions. Kennett put together a 68-yard touchdown drive late in the first half to cut a 13-0 Cardinal Ritter lead to 13-7 with 4:19 left in the second quarter and continued to trail by one possession after its defense followed up its first score with a defensive stop near the end of the first half...

CREVE COUER - In its usual dominating fashion, Jackson marched to Chaminade Collegiate Prep and took care of business with a 63-22 win over the Red Devils on Friday to advance to the MSHAA Class 5 Semifinals for the second straight season.

Two weeks ago when Kennett Indians football coach Joel Wyatt began preparing for a state playoff game against St. Mary’s the defensive strategy was to try contain a couple of offensive standouts. “With St. Mary’s we were really focussed on containing Coleman and Hendrix,” Wyatt said...

Building a program takes patience, but it does pay off in the end. That is the case for the New Madrid County Central football team, as it took Tyler Fullhart three years to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. The Eagles finished 1-8 in his first two seasons on the sidelines before winning four games in 2018, six in 2019, and seven last season...

Jackson quarterback Cael Welker led the Indians to the Class 5 state title game last year by amassing 2,852 passing yards, a .593 completion percentage and 40 passing touchdowns and 13 rushing touchdowns. This year the senior might finish the job and cement his place as the best quarterback in school history. The Indians have won 10 or more games in four of their last 10 seasons. Three of them came in the last three seasons with Welker on the helm...

Jackson defeated Farmington 49-14 on Friday at The Pit to claim the MSHSAA Class 5 District 1 crown for the third straight season and move on to the state quarterfinals.

The Kennett Indians football team will secure its third straight district championship without ever stepping onto the gridiron Friday night. No. 3 seeded St. Mary’s (St. Louis), who was scheduled to play at No. 1 seeded Kennett in the Class 3, District 1 championship Friday night, informed Kennett they were forfeiting the contest Friday afternoon...

FESTUS, Mo. — Heading into the season, New Madrid County Central set high expectations for a strong returning core of players. They met those goals for the most part, even though it came in a 42-20 loss Friday night at Blue Jay Stadium in Festus. “This is where we intended to be,” NMCC head coach Tyler Fullhart said. “We didn’t get the result that we wanted, but we have a great group of seniors that led the way, and I couldn’t be more proud of this group.”...