CENTRAL DROPS DOWN TO CLASS 4A IN FOOTBALL

Cape Central's football team will not meet Jackson for a district championship any time soon.

That's because Cape Central got the official word Tuesday that it has been dropped down a class in football, from 5A to 4A.

Central's district will consist of Perryville, Farmington and Sikeston, Kitchen said. Last year, the 5A district included Jackson, Poplar Bluff and Vianney.

"I was surprised," said Central Athletic Director Terry Kitchen. "We thought that since we've been in 5A for so many years, we'd still be in it, but then I got to looking at our size. It's not so much that our enrollment is dropping, but others have gotten bigger which changed the brackets."

Cape Central went just 1-9 last year so the drop in class size may give it a more level playing field.

But Farmington was state-ranked last year, Sikeston puts forth a winning record almost every year and Perryville went deep in the 3A playoffs two years ago.

"I don't know if I can say it'll be easier," Kitchen said. "We'll just have to get our players ready to go."

"Competition is competition," said Cape Central coach Lawrence Brookins. "I'm not overly excited about it or vice versa. A lot of folks get wound up with the big-school, small-school mentality but we played New Madrid (a 3A school) and they were bears. A lot of schools in the lower classes can play with the larger schools.

"I think it could make for some interesting matchups. And it could create or renew some rivalries. But no matter how you slice it up, I'm just excited about starting the season."

Ironically, Central already had planned to play each of its new district foes.

"The teams that we'll play in 4A, we've had scheduled," said Kitchen. "But because of this, we have to move them to the end. We still need to pick up one more game."

As for Perryville, it was removed from a district that contained Hillsboro, Windsor and De Soto.

"I'm looking forward to playing them," said Perryville coach Jerry Tucker. "It's always fun playing new teams. Farmington is always a good team, but I don't know much about Cape Central or Sikeston. It'll be hard to schedule, though, because Central and Sikeston are non-conference teams."

Francis Howell will replace Cape Central in the Class 5A, District 1.

Jackson coach Carl Gross was glad to pick up Howell.

"I'm kind of glad that we've got two seasons now," said Gross. "We have a conference season and a district season. This gives us something else to play for. I like that we picked up Howell."

In addition to picking up Francis Howell next year, Jackson will also play Parkway North. Jackson has dropped Soldan and Beaumont, two weak teams from St. Louis which the Indians pounded last season, but it still has one date to fill.