Central, Jackson to host quarterfinal football games Saturday

Class 4

Miller Career Academy (11-0) at Central (8-4)

1:30 p.m. Saturday

District 1 final: (2) Central 59, (1) Hillsboro 33

District 2 final: (1) Miller Career Academy 48, (3) St. Mary's 21

Winner plays: Webb City (11-1) vs. Westminster (10-2)

Outlook: Central rides a seven-game winning streak into its first quarterfinal appearance since 2002 and will play an unbeaten team in Miller Career Academy.

The teams won their district title games in eerily similar fashion, falling into early holes before taking the lead for good just before halftime and winning by comfortable margins.

Central trailed 20-8 before scoring two touchdowns in the final 2:54 of the half for a 24-20 halftime lead. The go-ahead touchdown came on the final play of the half and the Tigers won by 26 points.

Miller Career trailed 21-0 before scoring three touchdowns in the final 5:28 of the half. The go-ahead touchdown came on the final play of the half and the Phoenix won by 27 points.

Miller Career, ranked No. 10 in the final regular-season Class 4 poll, averages 47.5 points on offense and yields an average of 10.3. The Phoenix have skilled players on offense, while the defense has posted five shutouts.

"To be honest, it's hard to tell how good they are," Central coach Nathan Norman said. "Their competition has just been questionable. You just don't know."

Norman is not alone in that assessment. Six teams with losses were ranked ahead of the Phoenix in the state poll.

No team in Miller Academy's district finished above .500. The Phoenix also won the Public High League, but again no team in the league (Vashon, Gateway, Roosevelt and Sumner) had a winning record.

Five of its nine regular-season opponents had losing records, including winless Cleveland that the Phoenix feasted on to the tune of 78-0. It was one of three consecutive shutouts posted by Miller Career, a stretch in which it outscored its opponents 169-0. Soldan and Northwest Academy, who both finished 6-5, were victims in the stretch.

It's closest wins were by six points over both Class 3 Eldon (9-3 record) in Week 2 and Gateway (3-8) in Week 5.

"They are a big play team," Norman said. "They are fast and are athletic."

Junior quarterback Jaylen James has completed 57 percent of his 85 passes, according to stltoday.com. He's thrown 19 touchdowns and two interceptions. James, who has passed for 1,223 yards, is the team's second-leading rusher with 716 yards (9.1 ypc). He rushed for three TDS in the district title game.

James runs more than he throws in the spread attack.

"They're not real complicated in what they do," Norman said. "They're pretty basic, but what they do, they do well. They're big playmakers."

James also is the team's punter and averages 40.9 yards per kick.

Junior running back Marquis Stewart has 1,785 yards rushing (11.3 ypc) and 2,087 total offensive yards.

"He's a stocky kid," Norman said. "He's a hard runner and has good balance. He's not necessarily going to run you over, but he's got good moves."

Javon Collard, who jump started the district title game comeback with an 85-yard punt return, is the team's leading receiver with 15 receptions for 534 yards. Eight of his catches have gone for touchdowns. Mark Frazier and Stewart both have 16 catches and more than 300 yards receiving.

"We'll have to play disciplined ball," Norman said. "We can't get into a track meet with them."

Junior Travis Riley leads the secondary with seven interceptions.

Senior Karon Thomas has a nose for the football with a team-high 126 tackles (76 solo, 50 assists) and five fumble recoveries. He's tied for the team lead with five sacks. Valentino Armendaiz (114 tackles -- 69 solo, 45 assists) and Darriell Collins (108 -- 62 solo, 46 assists) both have more than 100 tackles.

The Phoenix will be up against a Central offense that has been on a rampage, scoring at least 56 points in each of its last four games.

Central senior running back Mikey Jones broke his own school single-game rushing record and the single-season rushing mark with his 347 yards against Hillsboro. Jones has 1,923 yards on the season.

"Our kids are really playing well offensively," Norman said.

Central has averaged 50.8 points and 512 yards of offense during its 7-0 streak after averaging 25.4 points and 335.8 yards offense over a 1-4 start. Central averages 439 yards and 40.1 points on the season.

Jones is averaging 194.6 yards rushing per game during the winning streak.

"We'll just have to see how our run game matches up to their speed," Norman said. "Mikey won't necessarily break an 80-yard run, but if he can break two or three 30s, and combine those on a drive ... I hope he can outrun these guys, but I think he can run over them."

Tigers senior quarterback Dennis Vinson has averaged 138 yards passing during the streak and has thrown for 1,580 yards on the season, raising his completion percentage to 51.8 percent.

Sophomore Al Young has grabbed the majority of those passes. Young, the first player in Central history to surpass the 1,000-yard mark in a season, has 33 catches for 1,041 yards (31.5 yards per reception). He's averaging 98.4 yards receiving during the win streak.

Norman said the Tigers are healthy entering the contest.

Class 5 quarterfinal

Webster Groves (8-3) at Jackson (8-3)

1:30 p.m. Saturday

District 1 final: (2) Jackson 14, (1) Vianney 0

District 2 final: (3) Webster Groves 21, (1) Kirkwood 19

Winner plays: Parkway Central (11-1) vs. Camdenton (9-2)

Outlook: Jackson is playing in its first quarterfinal game since 2008, and finds a team that has fashioned an identical record in similar fashion.

Both teams have suffered a pair of losses to Class 6 schools: Jackson closed its season with competitive losses to Hickman and Francis Howell Central; Webster Groves opened its year with competitive losses to Hazelwood Central and Francis Howell.

The Statesmen's loss to Hazelwood Central, unbeaten and ranked No. 2 in Class 6, was by five points. Francis Howell is ranked No. 6 in Class 6.

The Statesmen, ranked eighth in the last regular season poll, own wins over two Class 5 schools ranked ahead of them. They upset top-seeded Kirkwood, ranked No. 5, in the district final. They also handed No. 3 Parkway Central (11-1) its lone loss in Week 5, winning 28-7.

Webster Groves' only loss to a non-Class 6 school was a 19-13 setback to Class 5 Parkway North in Week 8.

"They're used to big, physical players," Eckley said. "They are very well coached and they are physical and athletic, and that bodes well for them."

Jackson's only loss to a non-Class 6 school was to then state-ranked Vianney in Week 2, but the Indians avenged that loss Monday.

Junior quarterback Rob Thompson runs the Statesmen's balanced spread offense. According to stltoday.com, he averages 21 passes a game, completing 55 percent for 1,910 yards. He's thrown 19 touchdowns and been intercepted 11 times.

His top target is junior Cameron Hilton, who has 38 catches for 695 yards. He's caught 11 of Thompson's TD passes -- eight more than any of his teammates. Hilton also likes to pull in passes while on defense, anchoring the secondary at safety with seven interceptions. His top-rate speed was on display with a 97-yard TD interception against Kirkwood.

Senior DJ Johnson, who also has good speed, is the team's leading rusher with 708 yards (5.9 ypc) and is the second leading tackler on defense behind fellow senior linebacker Bri'on Sanders, who rotates in at running back and is the second-leading rusher.

Much of the talk about Jackson football has been about a potent offense, but the Indians allowed just six points in their two district games, holding a pair of rushing phenoms with 4,000-plus yards combined on the season to mortal numbers. Poplar Bluff's single-season record holder Bi Nguyen was held to 47 yards, and Vianney's Markel Smith, who ran for a state-record 541 yards earlier this year, was limited to around 100.

Vianney mounted just 116 yards of total offense against the Indians, who accumulated four sacks and 10 tackles for loss.

"They played really well. I was really pleased with how our defense played," Eckley said.

Senior Garrett Koch led the charge with two sacks, 10 tackles and a fumble recovery.

"He played really, really well," Eckley said. "He was very physical."

Jackson's defense is allowing 238 yards per game, but just 106.5 in its two district games that were played in sloppy weather conditions.

Eckley said senior defensive tackle Chris Collier likely will miss his second straight game with a sprained ankle and "there is a good possibility" senior linebacker Garrett Miller will be out due to an unspecified injury.

The offense averages 440 yards and 36.6 points per game.

Junior quarterback Dante Vandeven has 2,067 yard passing and rushed for 743. He's completed 54 percent of his passes.

Senior running back Colten Proffer has been at the center of the Jackson attack over the past eight games, averaging more than 200 yards of offense. He has 896 yards rushing and 777 yards receiving during the span.

Senior Taylor Henson is the second-leading receiver with 33 catches for 526 yards this season.

"We still haven't played a very clean game it seems like, offensively," Eckley said. "Our cleanest game was probably against Hickman because we didn't turn it over and were able to create some explosive plays."

"And I don't know if we'll get those same explosive plays vs. Webster as well coached as they are. They're pretty good at keeping you out front. We'll have to take care of the football, be successful on third and short and in the red zone. They're pretty good on defense in those situations, and we'll have to limit our tackles for losses on the offensive side. It should be a good game."

-- Jeff Breer