What 2 watch 4: Elite football to be played throughout the Bootheel

Scott City football coach Jimmy May directs his team in warmup exercises before an MSHSAA District championship match-up against Caruthersville Friday at Scott City High School in Scott City.

Tyler Graef ~ Southeast Missourian

The elite of MSHSAA football meet throughout the Show-Me State tonight as the best teams battle in the state quarterfinals.

In Southeast Missouri, three teams are seeking to advance.

Here is “What 2 Watch 4” in those games.

Lutheran North (11-0) at Scott City (11-1), 7 p.m.

Scott City has been rolling along this season with a balanced offensive attack, but the Rams will face unbeaten Lutheran North, which outscored its three district opponents 136-0.

It should be noted the Crusaders faced just one winning team along the way, defeating Lift for Life Charter Academy 6-0 in the title game after averaging 65 points in wins over Grandview (2-8) and Cuba (5-6).

Scott City is averaging 432 yards offense per game on the season — 248 rushing and 184 passing.

Senior running back Jimmy May leads the Rams with 1,771 yards rushing, averaging 9 yards per carry, with 31 TDs.

Senior quarterback Spencer Stratman is second with 761 yards rushing and 16 TDs, and has completed nearly 72 percent of his pass attempts for 2,191 yards. His top target is senior Joe Panagos, who has 62 catches for 1,135 yards and 12 TDs.

May also has over 300 yards receiving, as does senior Kobe Hann.

Senior Landon O’Brien has four TD receptions, with two coming in last week’s 35-14 win over Caruthersville in the Class 2 District 1 title game. O’Brien is also the team’s leading tackler with 129 tackles from his inside linebacker spot. Hann is second with 86.

The Rams have allowed less than 10 points per game in their current five-game winning streak after allowing 46 in their lone loss to Hayti.

In stats posted on stltoday.com, Lutheran North overcame a perplexing statistical line to defeat Lift For Life (10-2) in the District 2 championship game.

In total yardage, Lift For Life had 240 yard total offense to just 137 for Lutheran North.

The Crusaders benefited from five forced turnovers — three fumble recoveries and two interceptions. Lift For Life did not have a balanced attack, with 31 rushes for 213 yards and completing 2 of 7 passes for 17 yards.

Lutheran North had just 89 yards rushing on 34 attempts (2.62 ypc).

Lutheran North used two quarterbacks, sophomore Brian Brown and senior Jordan Smith, who combined to complete 5 of 17 passes for 48 yards. Smith threw an interception among his seven passes but, according to the website, scored the game’s lone points on a 1-yard run with just under eight minutes left in the game.

According to the stltoday.com, Brown has completed 64 percent of 103 passes, with 17 going for touchdowns and just two INTs.

Sophomore Ali Wells is the team’s top rusher with 663 yards (7.4 ypc) and 13 TDs.

The Crusaders have three other rushers with over 350 yards on the season who average over 6 yards per carry: Brown (6.3 ypc, 7 TDs), senior Jalen Head (7.7 ypc, 8 TDs) and senior Roni Rutledge (10.0 ypc, 6 TDs).

While Smith spent time at quarterback in the district final, he is the team’s leading receiver with 22 catches for 437 yards and five TD receptions.

Senior Cameron Griffin is second with 19 catches for 375 yards and a team-high six TD catches.

Among the Crusaders’ more notable wins is a 38-10 victory over Class 4 District 1 champion Farmington (10-2) in Week 7.

Farmington held Class 5 Jackson (11-0) scoreless in the first half and was tied with the Indians in the fourth quarter in what turned out to be a 35-14 loss.

The Crusaders mounted nearly 400 yards offense against Farmington, with Head gashing the Knights for 172 yards on nine carries.

Lutheran North also owns wins over MICDS (7-4), John Burroughs (7-4) and Chaminade (8-3).

Among notable Lutheran North players are senior Itayvion Brown, a 6-6, 225-pound linebacker who has verbally committed to Minnesota, according to rivals.com.

Senior linebacker Antonio Doyle (6-4, 230) is also ranked as the No. 4 recruit in Missouri by scout.com.

Smith, Griffin and Parker are also listed as top 50 recruits in Missouri by scout.com, while offensive tackle Traevon Williams (6-4, 285) is listed No. 58.

Jackson's Kannen Turley (11) runs with the ball during the Indians' match-up with Fox in the MSHSAA Class 5 District 1 championship Friday in Jackson.
Jacob Wiegand ~ Southeast Missourian

Eureka (10-1) at Jackson (11-0), 7 p.m.

Jackson, which averages 51.2 points per game, has not scored less than 35 points per game.

Eureka allows just 7.9 ppg and has not allowed more than 23 points since its season-opening, one-point loss to Ft. Zumwalt, which already has advanced to the Class 6 semifinals.

The Indians are no slouch on defense either, allowing 8.9 ppg.

Both teams have recorded four shutouts this season.

The Indian defense is yielding just 175 yards on average.

A balanced Jackson offense averages 466.9 yards per game — 242.2 passing and 224.7 rushing.

Indians junior quarterback Cael Welker, who has completed 70.6 percent of his passes, has thrown for 2,558 yards and 40 TDs.

Sophomore Kannen Turley is his top target with 14 of his 41 catches going for TDs.

Turley has 593 yards receiving on the season. Senior Seth Waters leads the rushing attack with 1,034 yards (7.5 ypc) and has 13 of the Indians’ 36 rushing TDs.

Two of Eureka’s shutouts came in district play, where it outscored two 2-9 teams, Oakville and Vianney, by a combined 79-0.

Senior linebacker Jake McCollum, the son of former NFL player Andy McCollum, leads the team with 105 tackles, according to stltoday.com. He also has eight sacks, second only to the nine posted by junior lineman Daley Thompson.

Junior linebacker Trace Ruckman is second on the team with 96 tackles.

Eureka also runs a run-pass option spread offense operated by junior quarterback Carter Davis, who has completed 58 percent of his passes for 2,171 yards. He’s thrown 28 TDs with 5 INTs.

Carter has averaged 6.3 ypc on 42 attempts.

Sophomore Jaquari Parks leads the Wildcats with 690 yards rushing (5.2 ypc), followed by senior Teddy Bielecki (495 yards, 5.0 ypc).

The receiving corps is topped by senior Zach Valentine who has team-leading totals of 42 catches for 814 yards (19.4 ypc) and 12 TDs.

Senior Jhalon Asher-Sanders averages a team-high 24.6 yards per catch, with his 26 receptions going for 639 yards and eight TDs.

Junior Tommie Davis also averages over 20 yards a catch and has 405 yards and four TDs.

Eureka center Josh Baker (6-3, 270) has verbally committed to Arizona, according to rivals.com.

Several Kennett football players lineup for a play in a recent win over Ste. Genevieve in the Class 3 District 1 championship game at Kennett.
Dustin Ward ~ Delta Dunklin Democrat

Roosevelt (11-1) at Kennett (12-0)

Kennett and Roosevelt both enter the Class 3 quarterfinals with double-digit winning streaks.

Roosevelt has won 11 straight games after falling to Troy Buchanan 28-24 in Week 1.

Kennett has won all dozen of its games by double digits, never trailing in the second half.

Roosevelt had three touchdown runs of more than 40 yards in the second half and threw two touchdown passes of more than 50 yards in the first half as it rallied from a 22-12 deficit to beat St. Francis Borgia 48-43 and secure its first district title since 2005 Saturday.

Kennett had four touchdown plays of 20 yards or more as it beat Ste. Genevieve 40-0 to repeat as Class 3, District 1 champs last week.

Roosevelt’s offense is anchored by quarterback Alonzo Smith, who has completed 94 of 168 passes for 1,819 yards.

Smith’s favorite targets are Darrius Jackson and Deablo McGee. Jackson has 33 catches for 785 yards and eight touchdowns, while McGee has 39 catches for 911 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Kennett, which has rushed the ball 419 times for 3,835 yards and passed the ball for 828 yards, relies on senior running back Marsayv’aun Harrell to lead its ground attack.

Harrell has rushed the ball 162 times for 1,818 yards this season. He has a team-high 27 rushing touchdowns and a team-high four touchdown receptions.

Roosevelt lacks a dominant rusher but has six players who have ran for at least five touchdowns this season.

Alonzo Smith has rushed the ball 74 times for a team-high 562 yards and 11 touchdowns, while Dejavion Mitchel has 54 carries for 430 yards and six touchdowns, Darrion White has 38 carries for 313 yards and five touchdowns, McGee has 18 carries for 197 yards and seven touchdowns, Jackson has 24 carries for 243 yards and five touchdowns, and Ali Hall has 24 carries for 206 yards and five touchdowns.

The Kennett defense has forced 32 turnovers this season, while Roosevelt senior corner Darrius Jackson had 16 interceptions his junior season and has recorded six interceptions this season.