Football

After 71 days, the Poplar Bluff Mules are getting back to work. Starting Monday, athletes and coaches will be able to meet on campus as part of summer activities under guidelines set by the district to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. “We’re going to cope with it the best we can,” Mules football coach David Sievers said. “Football is hard to social distance at...

NEW MADRID, Mo. — Whether it was on the football field or the wrestling mat, New Madrid County Central junior Quazavion Jackson proved to be a force for the Eagles this past season, earning him the 2020 Standard-Democrat Boys Athlete of the Year. A locomotive in the backfield, Jackson earned SEMO Conference All-Conference, Class 2, District 1 All-District, Class 2 All-Region, and was on the Class 2 All-State Third-Team as well...

CHARLESTON, Mo. — Charleston senior defensive back Brian Visor signed his National Letter of Intent to continue his academic and football career at Westminster College in Fulton, Mo. Visor recorded 28 tackles, 16 solo tackles, four interceptions, and 15 pass breakups his senior season with the Bluejays...

Each year the Semoball Awards recognizes outstanding high school athletes from around the region. That tradition continues this summer albeit in a different format because of lingering COVID-19 concerns and social distancing requirements.

The term “new normal” has enveloped the entire world through the past months as the world adjusts to the coronavirus pandemic.

If you want to get a hold of Jackson senior Cole Amelunke, you better reach out to him soon. Because in a few months (God willing, due to the pandemic), he’s not going to have much time for chit-chat with anybody.

The truth of the matter is, from an athletic standpoint, the 2019-20 school year at Cape Central will forever be remembered as the “year of the coronavirus.”

Malden senior Garrett Rackley liked what he saw when he went for a visit at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. “They had nice facilities,” he said. “The campus felt nice. I liked the campus and loved their football field. I also liked the message I received from their coaches. It just felt like the right fit for me.”...

Westminster College football coach John Welty made a good first impression on Malden senior Shay Amoss when he visited him at his high school earlier this school year. “When he came and talked to me at the school he related to us like you were in his shoes,” Amoss said. “He told me how things would work from his perspective. It made me feel like I really wanted to go there so I could be around him and people like him.”...

Good Sports is a column featured weekly in the Southeast Missourian and on semoball.com. It is primarily designed to showcase people who have impacted the sporting life of Southeast Missouri, so that readers may get to know them more fully. Responses have been edited for clarity and brevity...

Malden Green Wave football coach Justin Peden has never been a fan of playing in a four-team conference. “I prefer a bigger conference,” Peden said. “I think things get a little watered down in terms of postseason awards playing in a four-team conference. There have also been a few times over the years a team finished below .500 and won a conference. I feel like you should actually have to win some games to be a conference champion.”...

The Kennett football team’s path to a second straight undefeated regular season will have a much different look next fall. Kennett has added three new opponents and dropped three others from its 2020 varsity football schedule. Kennett has picked up Poplar Bluff, Doniphan, and East Prairie and dropped North County, Fredericktown, and Gosnell, Arkansas...

Jackson football coach Brent Eckley is entering his ninth season leading the program, and despite the uncertainty of months lost to the coronavirus, is bullish on his football team’s prospects in 2020.

Good Sports is a column featured weekly in the Southeast Missourian and on semoball.com. It is primarily designed to showcase people who have impacted the sporting life of Southeast Missouri, so that readers may get to know them more fully. Responses have been edited for clarity and brevity...

PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. — After serving as an assistant coach for the past six years at East Prairie, Ian Penrod is taking over the reins for Portageville next season. Penrod will be the third coach in the last three seasons for the Bulldogs, and it will also be his first head coaching opportunity...

Good Sports is a column featured weekly in the Southeast Missourian and on semoball.com. It is primarily designed to showcase people who have impacted the sporting life of Southeast Missouri, so that readers may get to know them more fully. Responses have been edited for clarity and brevity...

In the end, Connor Tollison just didn’t want to leave Missouri. Jackson High School’s 6-foot-5, 295-pound offensive lineman was made scholarship offers by 20 universities. “It came down to Oklahoma or Mizzou,” said Tollison, 17. Tollison, who protects JHS quarterback Cael Welker’s blind side, picked Missouri, impressed with its new coaching staff – from the head man on down...

Jackson offensive lineman Connor Tollison is now a recruiting target of arguably the most prestigious college football program in the United States – the University of Alabama.

Cole Laws is looking forward to focusing on playing linebacker in college next fall. The Poplar Bluff senior, who recently signed his National Letter of Intent to play at Southwest Baptist University, also played right guard for the Mules. "I'm done with that," Laws joked...

Cape Central’s Cameron Cox is headed to Division II Southwest Baptist University. “It may be surprising to people that (Cox) will not play offense (in college),” said first-year Central coach Kent Gibbs. Maybe shocking is a better word. The 17-year old finished his Tigers football career as the Central record holder in touchdown passes...

The head coaches of rival high school football programs Jackson and Cape Central do not see eye-to-eye on the new kickoff protocol in the upstart XFL. “Personally, I like it,” Cape Central coach Kent Gibbs said. “I’d be willing to sit down and talk about anything that improves player safety.”...

There is no shortage of national collegiate football powers vying for the services of Jackson High School junior offensive lineman Connor Tollison.

It was a not a difficult choice for the sportswriters of this newspaper to choose Jackson’s Cael Welker as the 2019 Southeast Missourian Football Player of the Year. When informed that his two-time first team all-state quarterback had won the honor, Welker’s coach had a succinct reaction...

The selection of the 2019 All-Southeast Missourian Football Team was not an easy process. The six football-playing schools (Perryville, St. Vincent, Jackson, Cape Central, Scott City, and Chaffee) in the coverage area of the Southeast Missourian was filled with talented athletes and successful teams.

Charleston's James Durden signs his National Letter of Intent to continue his football and academic career at Itasca Community College, in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, on Friday, Feb. 7.

There is rarely a shortage of excellent athletic performances throughout Southeast Missouri by high school athletes each year and the fall season in 2019 was no exception.

Scott City senior running back Jimmy May signed to play football at NCAA Division II Southwest Baptist State Wednesday.

There were several aspects in a college football program that Cape Central senior Dony’e Taylor was looking for as he made his decision on where to play over the next five years.

Good Sports is a weekly feature appearing in the Southeast Missourian and online at Semoball.com. It profiles the life of a person connected to sports and allows readers the opportunity to know the people who are impacting athletics throughout Southeast Missouri in a deeper way. Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity...

The man responsible for overseeing football for the Missouri State High School Activities Association has no doubt – the game is OK for young people to play. “I truly believe that high school football is safer than ever before,” said Greg Stahl, MSHSAA assistant executive director...

Jackson's Seth Waters, member of the 2019 Class 4 state champion Indians golf team, signed Thursday to play the sport at Mineral Area College in Park Hills, Mo. The senior will have one more season to wear the red and black before moving to the next level...

Jackson’s Cole Amelunke is a standout in two sports and he’ll let a scholarship decide which one he plays in college. Amelunke, the Indians’ only four-year football letterman and a cornerstone of Jackson’s Class 5 runnerup squad, was among the 15 seniors honored at Tuesday’s annual gridiron banquet at the Knights of Columbus hall...

Good Sports is a weekly feature appearing in the Southeast Missourian and online at Semoball.com. It profiles the life of a person connected to sports and allows readers the opportunity to know the people who are impacting athletics throughout Southeast Missouri in a deeper way. Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity...

SIKESTON — For the first time since 2012, a Sikeston football player recorded over 100 tackles in a season. Senior Seth Copeland did just that, and more, as he finished his final year on the gridiron with a bang. He recorded 129 tackles, suiting up for every game with the Bulldogs to earn him the 2019 Standard Democrat Defensive Player of the Year...

NEW MADRID, Mo. — Entering this past football season at 235 pounds, New Madrid County Central junior running back Quazavion Jackson proved to be a tough matchup for any opposing defense. After a stellar sophomore season, where he ran for 1,065 yards on 167 carries, and eight touchdowns, Jackson upped that total by leaps-and-bounds his junior year...

Poplar Bluff senior Dylan Wells was named to the Missouri Football Coaches Association’s Class 5 All-State team as a third-team defensive lineman Friday. The nose guard recorded 73 tackles, including 16 for a loss and 1 1/2 sacks while forcing a fumble and recovering another for the 4-6 Mules...

MFCA ALL-STATE The Missouri Football Coaches Association announced its all-state teams. Players from the SEMO Conference included (with school, year, height and weight): CLASS 5 First team QB — Cael Welker, Jackson, jr., 5-11, 180 OL — Connor Tollison, Jackson, jr., 6-5, 285...

Jackson High School football coach Brent Eckley won't hesitate to tell you that he loves watching college football. He's been a little busy lately, though, what with trying to win a Missouri State High School Activities Association Class 5 state title...

The Jackson football team stretched its season to the furthest point possible by competing in Saturday’s MSHSAA Class 5 state championship game, and it took just as long to resolve an on-going investigation into what occurred with the Indian program in a September game against Battle.

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The MSHSAA Class 5 football state championship game between Jackson and Carthage was every bit as dramatic as the 27-21 overtime score would indicate.

A visit to the office of Joel Wyatt, the head coach of the Kennett Indians, reveals an assortment of memorabilia on the walls. Pictures of smiling players holding trophies surround him as he works. Wyatt, who recently led Kennett to a state semifinal appearance and a 13-1 record in 2019, is no stranger to winning. Through his 10-year career as a head football coach, he has accumulated a 100-22 record...

COLUMBIA, Mo. — It’s easy to focus on the 344 yards of total offense Carthage gained against the Jackson defense in Saturday’s MSHSAA Class 5 football state championship game at Faurot Field at the University of Missouri. However, that number needs to be put into context.

COLUMBIA, Mo. - It all ended very quickly for Jackson at Faurot Field. Carthage quarterback Patrick Carlton scampered in from two yards out in overtime to give the Tigers its first-ever state football championship Saturday, 27-21. Suddenly the undefeated Indians knew what it felt like to lose...

COLUMBIA, MO. – After spending the first 52-plus years of my life in Indiana, I have become a little rigid in my defense of the ways of being a Hoosier. However, one of the things that high school athletics taught every Indiana native age 40 and up is very applicable to the members of the Jackson football program in 2019.

The Missouri State High School Athletic Association (MSHSAA) will televise the Jackson-Carthage game today at 7 pm. The game will be available to watch, according to the organization, for a $15 fee on MSHSAA TV, which can be found by using any Internet search engine...

Jackson is abuzz with talk of the hometown Indians.

For 10 seasons now, Chris Collier has been offering an on-the-field invocation for the Jackson Indians football team.

This is as far as you can go when it comes to high school football.

On Nov. 25, 1994, a historic season came to a frustrating end for the Jackson football team.

A year older and wiser, the Jackson Indians seemed to use a strategy employed on them a year earlier when they returned to the Class 4A final.