Central begins hunt for third straight playoff spot

Offseason workouts, summer practices, regular season games -- they all point in one direction.

Ask any coach and they'll tell you it's all preparation for district games.

The preparations are officially over. Beginning tonight, the moment of truth will play out for three weeks.

To the winners go the playoffs. To the losers, lots of time off.

After two straight trips to the Class 4 quarterfinals, the Central Tigers appear battle-tested and ready. They enter tonight's Class 4, District 1 opener at Sikeston (5-1) with a 6-1 record and the title of "team to beat."

Central's record is its best yet under fourth-year coach Lawrence Brookins and its best since 1997. The Tigers look to improve to 2-0 in the SEMO North Conference and grab at least a share of their first conference title since 1993.

"I feel good about the kids' mentality and attitude right now," Brookins said. "Six-and-one sure doesn't hurt the confidence level. The kids are feeling good about themselves."

While the road to the district has been strewn with lopsided wins, including a 43-16 blowout of Sumner last week, the Tigers have faced adversity and trials that have tested their character. It's character they will need for a road game at a conference rival that has had two weeks to prepare -- Sikeston did not play last week -- and on paper is the Tigers' biggest district threat.

With Sikeston, the Tigers will face one of the more versatile and dangerous quarterbacks in junior Blake DeWitt.

DeWitt, dangerous as a runner and passer, has been a central figure for Sikeston all year, from a surprising 21-14 victory over Jackson in the season opener to a recent 24-23 overtime win over New Madrid County Central.

The Bulldogs also rely heavily on the running of Lavar Morgan, who's rushed for more than 400 yards.

The Bulldogs, whose lone loss was to Dexter, average just under 19 points a game. But their season-high of 27 points is one point less than Central's season low.

Central's balanced attack, led by junior Mitch Craft, has averaged 36 points a game.

Craft has completed 60 percent of his passes while rushing for 362 yards. Senior Monroe Hicks has over 1,100 yards offense from the line of scrimmage, with 822 rushing and 319 receiving. Senior Seth Hudson leads Central's receivers with 351 yards and 21 receptions.

Brookins is mindful the district will not be won or lost tonight, but he would like to build on a streak of six straight district victories.

"You might get away with stumbling once, but I wouldn't want to live by it," he said. "You want to dictate your own fate if possible."

Parkway Central at Jackson

Jackson enters Class 5, District 1 as the defending champion, but realignment makes for a tough road to the playoffs.

Jackson (2-5) finds its three district opponents with a combined 18-3 record and will start off with undefeated Parkway Central (7-0).

Jackson is coming off a 27-7 victory over Poplar Bluff.

"It's better getting ready for this week coming off a win," Jackson coach Carl Gross said. "We played our best game of the year simply because we played harder than we had all year. It looked like we had fun and we really flew to the football."

The task gets tougher against the Colts, who have two running backs on pace for 1,000 yards and a quarterback with a 125.6 rating.

Senior fullback David Glickman averages almost 12 yards a carry and has rushed for 774 yards. Senior tailback Jermaine House has 737 yards rushing and averages over 7 yards a carry.

Senior Tommy Bawden has completed over 50 percent of his passes and thrown for seven touchdowns -- all to senior receiver Joe Carmichael.

"They have a lot of offensive weapons," Gross said. "They don't give you a lot of looks like teams we've played, but they use speed and deception."

The Colts have outscored their last three opponents -- Kirkwood, Fox and Lafayette -- 109-10 and their closest win all year was by 15 points over Mehlville in Week 1.

Gross said his Indians are heavy underdogs in the district, but remains optimistic after last week.

"It's going be a real test for us," Gross said. "But if we play like we're capable of playing, we can be in the ballgames."

Jackson, led by Stuart McIntosh's career-high 221 yards, rushed for a season-high 310 yards against Poplar Bluff. The Indians also had a season-high 436 yards of offense.

"It was like we had a different group of guys show up," Gross said. "I hope the same bunch shows up and puts on the red and white."

jbreer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 124