BLUE JAYS KEEP JOHN BURROUGHS OFFENSE `0' FOR THE SEASON

The Charleston Blue Jays kept John Burroughs winless -- and scoreless -- with a 12-0 shutout victory Saturday afternoon at home.

The Bombers, normally a Class 2A powerhouse, suffered their sixth shutout loss of the year in falling to 0-6. Charleston improved to 3-4.

Both offenses had trouble finding the end zone in a game that featured only one offensive TD.

"Their defense held our offense at bay," said Charleston coach Dan Kesselring. "They were big up front and we had a hard time moving their linemen off the line of scrimmage."

Blue Jay tailback Larico Coleman ran for 163 yards on 20 carries to lead Charleston's offense, but his only touchdown came on a defensive play. In the third quarter, Coleman stripped a John Burroughs runner of the football and raced 50 yards to make the final score.

Charleston got on the board in the first quarter with a 65-yard pass from Jason Ward to Travis Kent. It was Charleston's first TD pass of the year.

"I was glad to see we finally scored on a long touchdown pass," said Kesselring. "Travis Kent is capable of that and it finally happened."

John Burroughs moved into Charleston territory several times, but the Blue Jay defense held on for their second shutout of the season.

"I think our defense is slowly improving," Kesselring said. "We're getting everybody healthy now and I feel good about our team going into districts."

Second thoughts

St. Vincent ended its Jefferson County Conference schedule Friday with a 37-0 homecoming victory over Grandview (1-6).

The victory clinched the Indians second place in the JeffCo small school division for the fourth consecutive year. St. Vincent, 5-2 overall and 3-1 JeffCo, joined the conference four years ago.

Senior Chad Winkler scored three times and ran for 149 yards on 16 carries in the victory. Winkler also led the Indians on defense with 11 tackles, seven unassisted.

St. Vincent held a 23-0 halftime lead and Winkler added scoring runs of 47 and 17 in the third quarter to seal the victory. He also scored on a 50-yard scamper in the second quarter.

Dustin Moll and Nick Janet had the other two Indian TDs. Moll scored on a 26-yard run in the second quarter and Janet a 52-yard interception return in the first quarter. Janet had two interceptions in the contest, returning them for a total of 84 yards.

Dustin Moll kicked a 30-yard field goal to get the Indians on the board in the first quarter and booted 4-of-5 extra points.

Shutout city

St. Vincent wasn't the only Perryville team to keep its opponent off the scoreboard Friday.

The Perryville Pirates hosted Festus and blanked the Tigers 27-0. The shutout loss was the third straight for Festus, which has lost by a combined 133-0 over the past three weeks.

Held for Ransom

Zach Dechant scored a Kansas-record 10 touchdowns in leading Ransom to a 101-54 eight-man football victory at home over Golden Plains Friday night.

Dechant rushed for 360 yards on 17 carries, scoring on runs of 68, 19, 29, 6, 12, 56, 39, 15 and 2 yards. He also returned a kickoff 55 yards for another touchdown. Dechant also scored on a two-point conversion, giving him 62 points for the night, another eight-man record.

The eight-man game is played on an 80-yard field, and rules require the game to end when one team leads by more than 45 points after halftime.

Some information provided by The Associated Press