CENTRAL DUO TO SIGN WITH SEMO

Cape Central's two football all-staters -- linebacker O.J. Turner and kicker Brian Emmendorfer -- are both expected to sign a letter of intent today to play for Southeast Missouri State University.

Turner, a first-team all-state performer, was by many accounts the best linebacker in the region last year. He finished with 150 tackles -- 129 of them solo -- as he anchored a defense which posted four straight shutouts toward the end of the season and five overall. Central's defense allowed just 10.8 points and 211 total yards per game last year and made it to the state quarterfinals in Class 4A.

Turner said he had it narrowed down between Central Missouri State, Emporia State, SIU-Carbondale and a few junior colleges.

One of the reasons, Turner said, he chose Southeast was because it provided a physical therapy major which wasn't available at some of the other schools.

Plus, "everything the coaches said kind of fell into what I wanted," he said.

Turner said he is projected to play at middle linebacker at Southeast and may have a chance to contribute his freshman year.

Emmendorfer wasn't as consistent as he would've liked last season, but his leg strength was second to none. Emmendorfer, a second-team all-stater, nailed two 58-yard field goals in his career, one last year and one his junior year.

Last year, playing with a severely injured shoulder that may have affected his accuracy, Emmendorfer made 24 of his 28 extra-point attempts and made seven of his 17 field-goal tries.

Emmendorfer toyed with the idea of walking on at Missouri or Mississippi.

"A lot of schools don't want to give kickers a full ride," Emmendorfer said. "They want you to walk on and see what you do."

Emmendorfer said he will receive a scholarship at SEMO.

"The opportunity is good to play here," Emmendorfer said. "I liked what I was hearing about here. I think they've got great plans going on and I'm looking forward to it."