Central, Sikeston football teams meet again

The Central Tigers' 47-7 home win over the Sikeston Bulldogs in Week 3 is a distant memory as the two teams meet again at 7 p.m. today in the second round of the Class 4 District 1 playoffs at Tiger Stadium.

"If we had a perfect world, we would come out and compete like we did in the first game, but I'm telling my kids that the first game doesn't mean anything," Central coach Nathan Norman said. "We've got to come out and establish the same type of atmosphere, same type of energy and play Cape Central football. That's how we will have success Friday night. We can't base it on what happened last time. We've got to come out and establish a new game."

The top-seeded Tigers (8-2) are coming off a 49-14 win over De Soto in the district opener. Central quarterback Peyton Montgomery was 4 of 4 passing for 104 yards and three touchdowns as the Tigers raced out to a 42-0 lead in the first quarter.

Norman said the strides his team is making in the passing game adds more balance to an already dynamic offense, which is averaging 345 yards per game.

"You want to be successful in all aspects of the game, whether it be special teams, throwing the ball, running the ball or defense, and I think we've become more of a well-balanced team right now," Norman said. "In all honesty, we went back to the basics. We turned the playbook down and focused on what we were good at, as far as throwing the ball and catching the ball with the certain routes that we run. That really helped us."

Junior Al Young leads the Tigers' offense with 1,063 yards from scrimmage and a team-high 19 touchdowns on the season, while senior Braion Owens has a team-high 977 rushing yards, including a 122-yard performance in the Week 3 win over the Bulldogs.

"Their tailback is awful good too," Sikeston coach Kent Gibbs said of Owens in an interview with the Sikeston Standard Democrat. "They've got three really good weapons, and they've been playing well up front."

The fourth-seeded Bulldogs (6-4) enter the game on a three-game winning streak, during which they've outscored their opponents 105-28.

Sikeston is led by a pair of productive running backs in Earnest Fobbs and Victwon Riley, who have combined for 1,853 yards and 19 touchdowns this season. Nathan Hampton is the Bulldogs' starting signal caller. He's completed 54 of his 104 pass attempts for 648 yards and five scores this season.

Gibbs views the rematch as a "good opportunity" for his squad.

"We went up there the first time, and to be honest about it, I think they intimidated us and obviously got after us scoreboard-wise," he said. "It wasn't a very good performance, but that's where we were at that particular stage of the game. You can't hide from the facts, and the facts are they put it on us the first time."

Norman said his team has continued to focus on getting better at its own game to prepare for Sikeston.

"They're well-coached. They get off the football with their linemen," Norman said of the Bulldogs. "You're going to have to beat them. They're not going to beat themselves. That's the sign of a well-coached football team.

"I don't have any fear that our kids won't be ready for Sikeston, as far as overlooking them. Hey, it's a big rivalry game. Our kids love playing Sikeston, and Sikeston loves playing us. We'll be ready. I don't have to worry about the motivational speech this week. Any time we're playing Sikeston, our kids will be ready to go."