CENTRAL'S MCGINTY WINS AREA'S TOP FOOTBALL HONOR

POPLAR BLUFF -- Cape Girardeau Central High senior Frank McGinty received Southeast Missouri's highest football honor Wednesday night.

McGinty, the Tigers' quarterback, was named the winner of the Carr Trophy during the Poplar Bluff Letter Club's annual banquet that honors all the top players on the 15 teams that make up the SEMO North, South and Central conferences.

The Carr Trophy goes annually to the person deemed to be the top player in Southeast Missouri. Voting is done by a committee put together by the Poplar Bluff Letter Club.

A 6-foot-3, 190-pounder, McGinty completed 151 of 263 passes (57 percent) for a school-record 2,099 yards and 17 touchdowns. He also scored four rushing touchdowns.

"This is quite an honor for Frank," said Central coach Jerry Dement. "There have been some tremendous athletes to win the award and to be in that company is quite an honor.

"Frank was a good, steady performer as a junior (when he passed for about 1,200 yards) and was very outstanding as a senior. He matured and got better and better every game."

Dement said that McGinty is being looked at by several Division I and Division I-AA schools, so he should be able to continue his athletic career on the next level.

"Frank is still maturing. He's going to keep getting bigger and stronger so I think some school is going to get a real good catch," Dement said. "He really worked hard over the summer to make himself better. He's smart, with a 3.4 (grade-point average). He's like having a coach on the field."

McGinty and teammate Chris Allen teamed up to form one of the state's top pass-and-catch combinations this season. Allen was the area's leading receiver with 69 receptions for 866 yards.