Area teams will have artificial start at jamborees

~ Central, Jackson, St. Vincent will debut on FieldTurf.

The St. Vincent football program hasn't stepped on an artificial surface to play football since its victory in the 2004 Class 1 state championship football game at the Edward Jones Dome.

The Indians will take to the FieldTurf in Hillsboro tonight with a very good reason.

"We kind of planned it because we open at McAuley Catholic and they play on the FieldTurf at the stadium at Missouri Southern in Joplin," St. Vincent coach Keith Winkler said. "This is a good chance for us to get used to the surface, so they don't get freaked out when they see it."

St. Vincent will be joined at the annual preseason jamboree by Festus St. Pius, host Grandview and Crystal City in tonight's 6:30 p.m. start. All the teams are in the Mississippi Area Football Conference Blue Division for small schools. Crystal City, a Class 2 playoff team last year, is the defending division champion.

TOP: Rams receiver Trey Schlosser pulled in the ball while playing catch before Thursday's scrimmage. BOTTOM: Caleb Gray held on to the jersey of Derek Goodin in an attempt to bring him down.

Jackson and Central also will play on artificial surfaces tonight. Central plays its home games at Southeast Missouri State's Houck Stadium, which also has an artificial surface.

St. Vincent reached the quarterfinal round in the Class 1 playoffs last year. With seven offensive starters and six defensive starters returning -- mostly along the offensive and defensive lines -- the Indians would like to see more artificial surfaces down the road.

In 2004, they practiced at Houck Stadium in preparation for playing in the dome.

"It was a big difference, because the turf at the dome was really hard," Winkler said. "This is going to be different for us because we're so used to playing on grass, but we're looking forward to it."

The FieldTurf facilities in eastern Missouri are popular places for jamborees. CBC High School in St. Louis County will host three jamboree sessions Saturday, according to the schedules at www.mosports.com.

Caleb Graey holds on to the jersey of Derk Goodin in an attempt to bring him down during the Scott City Rams scrimmage game on Thursday, August 23, 2007. (AARON EISENHAUER ~aeisenhauer@semissourian.com)

Farmington High School will host two different jamboree sessions on its artificial surface, including Central and Jackson playing in the 7:45 p.m. foursome with the host team and St. Clair.

Chaffee travels to Fredericktown for a 6:30 p.m. start in a field with Charleston and Malden as well as the host.

Perryville will be at New Madrid County Central along with Kennett and Sikeston for a jamboree that begins at 6 p.m.