Football

It didn’t take Poplar Bluff R-1 Athletic Director Kent Keith long to find an opponent to open the Mules football season. A day after Keith learned Illinois was moving football to the spring and that Poplar Bluff’s season-opening game against O’Fallon was off, he had found a replacement...

Perryville High School football coach Blane Boss had a tough decision to make in the Pirates’ 2019 training camp when it came to the quarterback position.

Preparation for the 2020 high school football season continued Wednesday night at the practice field near Metz Cherry Stadium in Kennett.

Just 31 days before kickoff, the Poplar Bluff football team is now looking for an opponent to face. The Mules were to host O’Fallon, Illinois, on Aug. 28 until Wednesday when football in that state was pushed back to next spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic...

The state of Missouri, as of now, is planning to start prep football on time this fall. Official practices may begin August 10 and the first competitive games are still on for August 28. Show Me State high schools may soon be approached with transfer requests from players in other states whose return to play has either been delayed or canceled...

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...

Scott City’s Jimmy May is still headed to Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri this fall – but he’ll have to wait a bit before he plays in a competitive football game again. On Monday, the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) announced it will postpone football for all its member schools until spring 2021 “due to ongoing concerns of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic,” according to a release...

Five head football coaches from Cape Girardeau and Perry counties believe their teams will snap the ball for the first time in a competitive game on Friday, August 28. MSHSAA, the Missouri State High School Athletic Association, and the Missouri Football Coaches Association (MFCA) are in agreement that August 10 will be the first official practice for Show Me State teams...

BENTON — On Wednesday evening, Kelly High School issued a statement of an athlete that tested positive for COVID-19. “School officials learned that someone who participated in football and basketball activities last Friday (July 17) has tested positive for COVID-19,” the statement said...

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...

The Missouri Football Coaches Association says it is full steam ahead for 2020 fall football. In a message sent to high school coaches dated Tuesday, the MFCA said "in agreement with MSHSAA (Missouri State High School Activities Association), (the) goal is to start our upcoming football season on schedule (Monday) August 10."...

Scott City High School boy’s basketball coach and athletic director Mark Dannenmueller doesn’t mince words when it comes to describing what it was like to coach former Ram athletic great Joe Panagos.

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

The coronavirus pandemic has altered the 2020 Semoball Awards into a production like never before, as the event will be conducted as a “virtual” event on Facebook Live on July 11 at 7 p.m. instead of a live show that the sports fans throughout Southeast Missouri have grown accustomed to through the years.

If you drive around the cities and towns dotting the Southeast Missouri landscape, one thing is undeniable: Kids are playing sports again in wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

SIKESTON — Youth Empowerment 573 is bringing some changes to its 2020 football league this season. Former Sikeston football standout and current assistant coach Treston Pulley calls it the “coronavirus changes,” and said that he is stirring things up amidst the virus that has halted nearly every sport...

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...