Football

BENTON, Mo – A week after suffering their first loss of the season the Kelly Hawks got back on track against Crystal City in their Black Out game on Friday. Led by senior running back Evan Urhahn’s four-touchdown performance the Hawks built a dominant 35-point halftime lead on their way to their first shutout of the season, 49-0...

EAST PRAIRIE - The Kennett Indians football squad had established itself as a run-first team in the first part of 2020, moving the ball on the ground more than in the air in each of the first four games. However, it quickly became apparent the Indians were going with a new game plan in its road contest Friday at East Prairie...

The Poplar Bluff football team will be practicing Friday afternoon instead of getting ready for a game at Rolla. The Mules were notified just before they loaded onto the bus for the trip that Rolla was canceling the game because too many of its players were unable to play due to COVID-19 concerns and contact tracing...

Semoball has learned Jackson Indians senior quarterback Cael Welker has been suspended for tonight’s game at Sikeston due to a violation of team rules. The nature of the infraction is not known and Indians’ athletic director John Martin was temporarily unavailable for comment...

Derland Moore, who played 14 seasons in the NFL and was an All-American defensive lineman at the University of Oklahoma, died Thursday night. The Poplar Bluff native was 68. Moore was a walk-on at Oklahoma after earning a track scholarship based on one meet that his father didn’t want him to attend because he had to work on the family farm...

MALDEN - Scott City forced seven turnovers in the first half, including a pair of pick-six scores by Gage Underwood and Logan Speakman. The short fields and quick scores helped put the Rams ahead by 39 points at halftime and they went on to beat Malden 54-21 on Friday night...

SIKESTON -- It was all Jackson from start-to-finish on Friday night at Sikeston Public Schools Stadium. The Indians scored on their first six drives in a 71-0 blowout of Sikeston for their 26th-straight regular-season victory. On the other hand, the Bulldogs dropped their third consecutive game after winning the first two contests of the season...

PERRYVILLE - On the first offensive play from scrimmage Friday between rivals St. Vincent and Perryville, Indian senior quarterback John Wibbenmeyer found junior wide receiver Jacob Kapp for a 37-yard gain. The play would serve as a precursor on how the night would go for the Pirate defense...

Kent Gibbs has been around the gridiron for an exceptionally long time. Gibbs, 63, has been a head football coach for almost half his life and has celebrated victory far more often than defeat. More recently, the Missouri Football Coaches Association Hall of Famer has seen a bit more of the latter...

JACKSON AT SIKESTON Records: Jackson 4-0; Sikeston 2-2 Series History: Sikeston leads 56-42-6 Last Meeting: 2019, Jackson won 53-0 Last Week: Jackson defeated Cape Central 63-0; Sikeston lost to Poplar Bluff 30-9 Notes: There are not many flaws when it comes to Jackson. ...

LAST MEETING: Malden beat Scott City 51-8 in 2015 LAST WEEK: Scott City beat Portageville 42-13; Perryville beat Malden 35-30 HEAD TO HEAD STREAK: Malden has won the last six meetings dating back to 2010. SCOTT CITY: Scott City (2-2) beat Dexter 18-15 in Week 1, Park Hills Central beat Scott City 40-26 in Week 2, Hayti beat Scott City 62-43 in Week 3, and Scott City beat Portageville 42-13 in Week 4. ...

The 4-0 (2-0 SEMO North) Jackson Indians have found an opponent for its open date on the first weekend of October. The Tribe will play at Fox (4-0) in Arnold, Missouri on Friday, October 2 at 7:00 p.m. The game replaces the canceled Miller Career Academy game slated for Oct. 3 and scrapped due to COVID-19...

There is a reason why Kennett football coach Joel Wyatt is an extraordinarily successful coach and not a member of the media or even a fan, per se. His task is to focus on the here and now, not some possible, but not definitive opponent off into the future. However, the Indian Nation – and the rest of the prep football fans (and media) throughout Southeast Missouri had to have had their interest piqued a tad when MSHSAA released its District assignments Monday.

Statewide high school football rankings, as compiled by a 9-member panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. First-place votes in parenthesis. Only teams that have played games this season are eligible for rankings. CLASS 6 Rank, team, Rec., Pts. 1. Raymore-Peculiar (9), 4-0, 99...

BENTON, Mo. — Whatever St. Vincent senior quarterback John Wibbenmeyer wanted to do, he did, against Kelly on Saturday night at Lambert Field, in Benton. The Indians’ signal-caller made it look easy against the Hawks defense, as he threw for 198 yards on an efficient 14-of-19 passing, in St. Vincent’s 28-14 win...

SIKESTON — Nothing worked for Sikeston against the Poplar Bluff running game on Friday night at Sikeston Public Schools Stadium. After a first half that saw both teams struggle to find the end zone, the Mules opened up the second half with a bang. They scored on their first three drives, racing out to a 30-6 lead, in their 30-9 win over the Bulldogs...

PORTAGEVILLE, Mo – After being held scoreless up to this point of the season, Portageville’s offense showed some signs of life against Scott City Friday on Senior Night. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, they couldn't overcome an early deficit as the Rams broke a two-game skid to move back to .500 on the season with a 42-13 win...

PERRYVILLE - If you broke down Perryville’s 35-30 football victory over Malden at Perryville Friday into segments, depending on which part of the contest you watched, you would have a varying opinion on each team.

FESTUS - The defensive success reached a new level for the Kennett Indians football squad Friday night. Undefeated Kennett built a 26-0 lead by halftime on its way to a 46-0 road win against St. Pius X of Festus at Father Dalton Stadium. It was Kennett’s first shutout of the season...

When Coach Brent Eckley can sit Jackson’s two-time All State quarterback Cael Welker with four minutes left in the first half against cross-county rival Cape Central, even a casual observer knows a Tribe rout of epic proportions is in the wind. The visiting Indians dominated from beginning to end at Tiger Field Friday as Jackson (4-0, 2-0 SEMO North) won 63-0...

Two Dunklin County football squads will have to travel a bit further than originally planned for their Week 4 football contests Friday. Kennett’s game at Caruthersville and Malden’s game at Chaffee have been cancelled. Kennett has added St. Pius X to its schedule in place of Caruthersville. Malden has added Perryville to its schedule in place of Chaffee. Both games are slated for a 7 p.m. kickoff Friday night...

As much as football intellect is needed by all that follow high school football throughout Missouri, organizational skills may be even more critical.

POPLAR BLUFF AT SIKESTON Records: Poplar Bluff 2-1; Sikeston 2-1 Series History: Sikeston leads 56-37-4 Last Meeting: 2019, Poplar Bluff won 61-18 Last Week: Poplar Bluff lost to Jackson 56-7; Sikeston lost to Farmington 25-7. Notes: One week removed from suffering its first loss of the season, Sikeston returns to the field to take on SEMO Conference rival Poplar Bluff on Hall of Fame Night at Sikeston Public Schools Stadium. ...

Poplar Bluff’s next scheduled home football game has been changed to a road trip for the Mules. Kent Keith, Poplar Bluff’s athletic director, said Tuesday night that St. Mary’s informed him the game at Mules Stadium on Sept. 25 would need to be canceled as St. Louis area teams continue to be restricted from playing...

The Dexter football team fell to New Madrid County Central 40-20 Friday but it wasn’t due to a lack of effort or production on the part of senior athlete Ryan Collier.

In the nine years Brent Eckley has patrolled the gridiron sidelines for the Jackson Indians, once per season he has seen Kent Gibbs across the way, leading an opposing squad. Gibbs skippered the Sikeston Bulldogs for seven of those head-to-head tilts, moving to Cape Central beginning with the 2019 campaign...

BENTON, Mo – While this school year will be memorable for reasons most would like to forget, the Kelly Hawks used homecoming and senior night Friday night to etch this season in history on a positive note. Capitalizing on four Chaffee first-half turnovers, the Hawks 28-pint halftime lead before downing the Red Devils 48-6...

FARMINGTON, Mo. — Farmington needed just over seven minutes of the first quarter to put up enough points to give Sikeston its first loss of 2020. The Knights scored three touchdowns in the final 7:10 of the first quarter to take a 19-0 lead and held on to defeat Sikeston 25-7 Friday night in Farmington...

EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. — Emotions ran high at East Prairie on Friday night. Before the game started, the Eagles honored their senior football players, cheerleaders, and band members, while also remembering the life of Steve Stokes — a lifelong Eagle staff member and coach — who passed away earlier this year. The public address announcer also played sounds from previous games that Stokes called when he was the public address announcer for football games...

HILLSBORO, Mo. -- Less than 20 minutes prior to Friday's MSHSAA Class 4 match-up at Hillsboro, veteran Cape Central football coach Kent Gibbs was standing outside of the Tigers' locker room hunched over. "I get sick before every game," Gibbs said, without a touch of humor, so perhaps he was being serious...

JACKSON — The band played “Everything’s Coming up Roses” at halftime and that was certainly the case for the Jackson football team Friday night. On his second carry, senior running back Daniel Dickerson found a lane to the end zone for a 36-yard run. He scored two more times as Jackson rolled to a 56-7 homecoming win over Poplar Bluff to open SEMO North Conference play...

DONIPHAN ­— For only the second time in three years of varsity football, the Doniphan Dons found themselves with a lead in the second half Friday night against the Caruthersville Tigers. Trey Mills’ reverse field 40-yard catch and run with 2:32 left in the third quarter followed by Alonzo Rios’ run for the two-point conversion put the Dons ahead 21-20. Caruthersville (2-1) recovered with the help of a couple of Dons turnovers in the final 14 minutes to claim a 42-21 win...

CHARLESTON — A game characterized by countless penalties, several key turnovers, and numerous missed opportunities also included a dramatic third-quarter shift in momentum that led the Malden Green Wave to a lopsided 36-12 victory on the road Friday against the Charleston Bluejays...

As any head coach will tell you, the first game of the season is probably the hardest. Add to that it only makes things that much tougher when you play one of the best high school football programs in the whole state. That's just what head coach Tim Schumer and his St. Vincent Indians did Friday night as his boys took on the Valle Catholic Warriors in Ste. Genevieve...

KENNETT - The Kennett Indians varsity football squad collected its third straight mercy-rule victory Friday night. Fresh off beating Malden 64-8 in Week 1 and defeating Doniphan 53-7 in Week 2, Kennett carried the ball for over 285 yards as it rushed its way past Ste. Genevieve 49-13 in Week 3...

In one of the longer Southeast Missouri high school football games in recent memory, Hayti won a shootout with its SEMO South Conference rival and host Scott City Friday, 62-43, behind the outstanding play of 6-foot-2 Indians junior quarterback Trayvon Thomas...

The third week of the high school football season has area teams at varying stages of their progression. Jackson, Chaffee, and Scott City are each competing for the third consecutive week, while Cape Central will play its second game, St. Vincent its first, and Perryville is off for a week while the Pirates are shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic...

SIKESTON AT FARMINGTON Records: Sikeston 2-0; Farmington 2-0 Series History: Sikeston leads 23-19-1 Last Meeting: 2019, Farmington won 42-0 Last Week: Sikeston beat Dexter 28-21; Farmington beat Potosi 10-6 Notes: Improving to 2-0 on the season last week, Sikeston aims to continue its great start with its second-straight road game at Farmington. ...

LAST MEETING: Kennett beat Ste. Genevieve 40-0 in the Class 3, District 1 championship last season. LAST WEEK: Valle Catholic beat Ste. Genevieve 42-7; Kennett beat Doniphan 53-7 HEAD TO HEAD STREAK: Ste. Genevieve is 3-4 against Kennett since 2010. Kennett has won the last three meetings, including twice last season...

PERRYVILLE - Being a teenager is emotional enough, so you can forgive the St. Vincent football players if they are a tad frustrated with how their athletic lives have been handled over the past month.

It’s been nearly three full years since the Jackson football team lost a regular season game — 1,085 days on Friday to be exact. Since then, the Indians have won 23 straight, including nine against SEMO North Conference opponents by a combined score of 471-95...

CARUTHERSVILLE - The Caruthersville Tigers hosted the Mountain Grove Panthers on Friday night in the Tigers' home opener. With the season in a constant pending status each week, the Tigers took a moment before the game to honor the senior football players and cheerleaders in front of its hometown crowd...

PORTAGEVILLE - Last Friday the Hayti Indians loaded up and headed north for a football clash with the Portageville Bulldogs. The offensive game plan was simple, according to Hayti offensive coordinator KC Gilmer, “Our main focus was to offensively execute, and focus on the 'little things', QB reads, O-Line blocking, and wide receiver blocking.”...

New Madrid County Central had dropped 114 points on East Prairie over the past two seasons. However, the Eagles soared Friday to a 41-27 win and running back Lucas Moore was a key reason as to why.

Scott City (1-1) faces the only team to blemish its 2019 regular season record Friday as it hosts unbeaten Hayti (2-0) at William Wllthong Field. The Rams were riding high at 6-0 last season when they traveled to Pemiscot County last October 11 and dropped a heartbreaker to the Indians in the final 29 seconds of the contest, 46-41...

Cape Central scored the first three times it touched the football Friday en route to a comfortable win over Class 3 St. Charles West, 42-14 at Tiger Stadium. Class 4 Central (1-0) spread out the fun among nine rushers who gained a combined 320 yards from scrimmage...

Following his team’s opening win of the 2020 season a week ago, veteran Jackson football coach Brent Eckley praised his defense, not just for its blowout victory at Fort Zumwalt West to start this year, but also for its effort in boosting the Indians to the 2019 MSHSAA Class 5 state championship game last December.

The mindset of a football team can change drastically in a single week; all it takes is the next game to do so.

MALDEN — The Kelly Hawks did not need many sustained drives to beat Malden in the SEMO South opener for both teams. Kelly scored three of its four first half touchdowns on plays of 13 yards or more and dominated from late in the first quarter on to take a 48-6 victory over the Green Wave on Friday in Malden...

DeSOTO, Mo. — Poplar Bluff’s defense kept the ball out of the end zone while Kannon Carr & Co. got rolling Friday night. Carr threw five touchdown passes, including a pair each to Devin Gatewood and Jacob Baller, while the Mules defense matched DeSoto’s offense in a 53-6 road win...