Central hopes for no district math lesson

~ A single point could haunt the Tigers in district standings

The strength of three of the football teams in Class 4 District 1 presented an intriguing question for Central coach Rich Payne during Friday's district opener at Farmington.

What might have looked like running up the score to some actually would have solidified the Tigers' place in the district standings if they had been able to add points in the waning seconds.

The Tigers allowed a touchdown pass with 3 minutes, 12 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and the Knights went for the 2-point conversion. Farmington used a pass to the right side to pick up the 2-point conversion to make the score 40-28.

The Tigers took over at their own 17-yard line but drove to the Farmington 11-yard line in the closing minute. Central was out of timeouts, and Deonte Jenkins was stoppped for a 2-yard loss on the final play of the game.

The Tigers moved to 8-0 for the first time since 1972 and secured an important district victory.

But Payne considered kicking a field goal in the closing seconds despite his team's two-score lead. A successful field goal would have pushed the victory to 15 points, which under the MSHSAA football guidelines' criteria for the postseason would have eliminated any chance of Farmington passing Central in the race for the district title if they finished with equal district records.

"First of all, we were out of timeouts," Payne said about the final minute of play Friday. "If we run it down to the last 10 seconds and we down the ball or something like that to stop the clock and the field goal gets blocked and they go the other way with it, then they onside kick it, there's all those factors that come into play."

But because the Tigers only won by 12 points, there's a slim chance Farmington could pass the Tigers if many things fall into place.

If Sikeston, Central and Farmington all ended up 2-1 in district play, the 13-point tiebreaker would be used. According to the MSHSAA rules, "The margin of victory or loss up to a maximum of 13 points shall be determined for each district game."

If Central lost to Sikeston by 13 or more points and beat Perryville by 13 or more points, it would end up with 12 points. Then if Sikeston, which already gained 13 points with its 54-7 win over Perryville on Friday, lost to Farmington by 13 or more points, it would end up with 13 points. Finally, if Farmington under this scenario beat Perryville by 13 or more points, it would end up with 14 points. Under this scenario, Farmington would win the district title, Sikeston would finish second and Central would be eliminated from postseason play.

Even if Central lost to Sikeston by 13 or more points and beat Perryville by 13 or more points, Farmington would have to beat Perryville by 13 or more points and defeat Sikeston by at least 12 points to make Friday's 2-point conversion and the Tigers' decision not to kick a field goal come into play.

"At that point, we've got the W and we're plus-12," Payne said about the late field goal. "Out of the entire equation of what we could have accomplished [Friday] in the district situation, I left one point sitting on the table.

"We kicked it around. Just like any other decision you have to make as a football coach, you've got X number of seconds to make that decision. At that point, there are pros and cons on both sides of the fence."

Of course, the mathematic possibilities will be a moot point for the Tigers if Central, ranked No. 9 in Class 4, can defeat No. 7 Sikeston by two or more points. The two 8-0 teams will meet at Houck Stadium at 7 p.m. Thursday in what has become, on a wide-spread level, the most highly anticipated high school football game this season in Southeast Missouri.