HIGH SCHOOL: BLACKCATS SCRATCH OUT BIG DISTRICT WIN OVER KENNETT

Fredericktown assured itself of its first back-to-back winning seasons in 37 years Friday night by slipping past Kennett 29-26.

Kennett, which beat Sikeston earlier this season, dropped to 5-2.

The Blackcats (6-2) found themselves trailing 20-6 with 1:30 left to go in the second quarter, but a 30-yard pass from Chris Wood to Clay Hendrix set up a touchdown just before half to give the Blackcats some momentum.

"That was a big deal because it gave us confidence," said Fredericktown coach Kent Gibbs.

After Kennett scored in the third quarter to go up 26-14, Fredericktown scored 15 unanswered points to win the game.

Hendrix broke off a 48-yard touchdown run to cut the Blackcats' deficit to 26-21 in the third quarter.

Once Fredericktown got a break and recovered a fumble at its 8-yard line, the Blackcats assembled a 10-play drive to take their first lead of the game with about six minutes to go.

"I felt like we wore them down when we had that 10-play drive," Gibbs said. "We just ran it at them. I think that was our weight room to be honest about it."

Fredericktown racked up 307 yards of total offense as Steve Francis ran for 109 yards on 21 carries and a touchdown and Hendrix ran the ball 12 times for 100 yards and two touchdowns.

Jarrod McClellan had 13 tackles and Hendrix had 11 for Fredericktown.

For Kennett, Tyree Goolsby rushed for more than 200 yards and Gibbs called the sophomore speedster the best running back he's seen at the Class 3A level in his 18 years of coaching.

Poplar Bluff impressive

While Jackson disposed of Vianney rather easily Friday night (27-0), Poplar Bluff posted an impressive victory as well, knocking off Francis Howell 51-14.

Poplar Bluff's standout quarterback Stan Revelle played for only three quarters but he completed 15 of 19 passes for 317 yards and six touchdowns.

Revelle was part of a school record when he hit Brent Little for a 99-yard bomb.

Poplar Bluff was ahead 37-0 at halftime and led 44-0 before Howell put any points on the board.

Back-to-back shutouts

No team has scored any points off of a Cape Girardeau County team in the last two weeks.

Jackson has posted a 42-0 win over Hillsboro two weeks ago and a 27-0 win over Vianney Friday night, while Cape Central is coming off a 30-0 win over Ritenour and a 23-0 win over Sikeston.

In fact, the last time either team allowed a point was against each other back on Oct. 6.

Jackson (8-0) is giving up eight points per game, while Central (4-4) is yielding 11.

Speaking of defense

New Madrid, the fifth-ranked team in Class 3A at 7-0, has allowed only 26 points this year (3.7 points per game).

The Eagles haven't played cream puffs, either. New Madrid has played three Class 4A schools and beat those teams by a combined score of 99-13. It has also played a large school from Illinois.

A-J makes playoffs

Anna Jonesboro has qualified for the Illinois state playoffs for the first time since 1986 by compiling a 7-2 record.

The Wildcats will host Johnston City in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs. The time and day has not yet been determined.