High school football capsules for Week 10

Chaffee (4-5, 2-0) at Valle (8-1, 2-0)

Last week: Chaffee 41, Cleveland NJROTC 18; Valle 57, St. Vincent 8

Last year: Did not play

Class 1 District 2: St. Vincent (2-7, 0-2), Cleveland NJROTC (1-8, 0-2)

Outlook: Both teams are headed for the Class 1 playoffs, but tonight's winner will claim the title of district champion. Valle is a perennial postseason entry while Chaffee will be making its first playoff appearance since winning the Class 1 state title in 1983.

Jackson linebacker Jacob Jones

The schools have not met on the football field since 2005, when they ended an 18-year district rivalry that began in 1988. Valle, which won six of its nine Class 1 state championships during that span, won all 18 of the district meetings with Chaffee. The Warriors won by an average score of 40-9 in going 18-0.

"We want to be eventually on their level," Chaffee coach Charlie Vickery said. "With a young team like this, the way you do that is to compete against those type people. We're looking forward to the challenge. Obviously we're the huge underdog, and rightfully so. We don't have any pressure on us, and we're just going to come out and try to play the best we can play."

The schools have met on four other occasions and Valle has an overall 20-game winning streak against Chaffee. Valle won by a combined 108-0 in opening its 1970 and 1971 seasons against the Red Devils, while Chaffee won the first two meetings, a 27-6 victory in 1954 under the guidance of coach Bob Godwin, and 14-7 in the 1966 season opener under the direction of Gary Glenzy.

Valle has not won a state title since 1995. The Warriors had not seen another championship game until losing in the Class 1 final last year, a 21-17 loss to Penney.

Valle, which owns four shutouts, has outscored its opponents 446-49. The Warriors have outscored the opposition 386-12 in the first half. Its lone loss came to Class 1's top-ranked team, Westran, a 21-14 setback in Week 6. The smallest margin of victory among its seven wins is 40 points, which came against Herculaneum.

Senior quarterback Alex Stohl directs the Warriors' spread offense, which includes senior Luke Uding at running back and receivers Michael Loida and Zach Weiler. Valle also has good size on the offensive line, led by 6-foot-4 junior Ryan Hermann.

Valle is about a 50-50 split between passing and running, and Vickery said the Warriors make few mistakes.

"They're really diversified and very skillful," Vickery said.

In district play, Valle has blown out the opposition in the first half while Chaffee's games have hung in the balance. Valle led Cleveland and St. Vincent by a combined 111-0 at halftime, taking advantage of numerous turnovers.

"They're putting teams away because they're not only good, but they're creating turnovers as well," Vickery said. "We've got to go in with the attitude that we've got to take care of the ball."

Chaffee held slim halftime leads -- four and two points -- in both its district wins but has outscored the opposition 60-13 in the second half. The Red Devils led St. Vincent 7-3 before going on to a 40-10 victory, and led Cleveland 14-12 before pulling away to a 23-point win.

Chaffee did not have a 100-yard rusher through the first seven weeks of the season but has seen junior Tyson Estes rip off back-to-back 200-yard games in district play. Estes, who has about 650 yards this season, had 210 yards against St. Vincent and 208 yards against Cleveland. The bulk of his district yards have come in the second half when the Red Devils' offense took over.

"You can either step forward or you can step backward," Vickery said. "We don't want to step backward. We're looking forward to it."

Rockwood Summit (5-4, 2-0) at Jackson (3-6, 1-1)

Last week: Rockwood Summit 40, Poplar Bluff 6; Seckman 58, Jackson 35

Last year: Rockwood Summit 7, Jackson 3

Class 5 District 1: Seckman (2-6, 1-1), Poplar Bluff (1-8, 0-2)

Outlook: The Indians are not dead in district play, but they are on life support. Jackson needs a victory tonight and help from a struggling Poplar Bluff team to make the playoffs. An Indians victory coupled with a Poplar Bluff win over Seckman would do the trick, and in fact the combo would make Jackson the district champion. That scenario would leave Jackson and Summit as the only 2-1 teams in the district and Jackson would have the edge in head-to-head play. Victories by Jackson and Seckman will give the district three 2-1 teams and bring district point accumulations into play. Jackson can make the playoffs if Seckman beats Bluff by 12 points or fewer and Jackson defeats Summit by at least one more point than Seckman beats Bluff. That scenario would give the crown to Summit with Jackson also advancing.

Needing help from the Mules, who are 1-8 with a seven-game losing streak, at this point in time is not an enviable position to be in. Jackson defeated Poplar Bluff 36-21 and now needs the Mules to play a competitive game against a Seckman team that dominated the Indians last week.

"An outside chance, but not much of a chance," Jackson coach Van Hitt said of making the playoffs. "The big thing for this game is it's going be the seniors' last home game. And it's a big pride thing for the entire team to try and bounce back and put together a good effort and win your last home game of the season."

Jackson gave up an alarming 335 yards rushing to Seckman junior Blake Pepper last week. Seckman, which scored a school-record 58 points, finished with 484 yards on offense and held the Indians to 42 yards rushing and 265 yards of offense. Seckman averaged about seven yards per rushing attempt and the Indians averaged 2.5 yards.

"We want a good, hard-nosed game," Hitt said. "We weren't ready to play last week. We thought we were."

Jackson senior running back Ethan Ruch enters tonight's game with a team-high 861 yards rushing.

"I would like to see Ethan get 1,000 yards rushing his senior year because he sure deserves it as hard as he's ran all year, yards after contact," Hitt said. "I hope the boy has a great night running the football. If he has a great night, it means we're putting points on the board and we've got a chance to be in the ballgame."

Senior quarterback Bobby Clark has come on the second half of the season. He has averaged 212 yards and a 51 percent completion rate over the last four games, which are above his season averages. Sophomore Lowgn Wren leads the Indians with 24 catches for 406 yards.

Summit's five wins have come against teams with losing records, while its four losses are to winning teams -- Kirkwood, Webster Groves, Parkway North and Parkway Central -- that combine for a 26-8 mark.

The Falcons had 554 yards of offense against Seckman and more than 400 against Poplar Bluff.

The Falcons have a 1,000-yard rusher in senior running back Alex Clark, who has 1,147 yards and averages 6.2 yards per carry. Clark had 257 yards against Seckman and 387 yards in the two district wins.

"They've scored a lot of points all year, so they've got a good offense," Hitt said. "And their defensive linemen are better than Seckman's because they're more athletic. They're bigger and they move better. It'll be interesting to see how the night unfolds for us."

Senior quarterback Myles Robinson has passed for 19 touchdowns and completed 60 percent of his passes. His top targets are senior C.J. Neal (20 catches, 522 yards, 6 TDs), junior Joe Schenk (37 catches, 431 yards, 8 TDs) and sophomore Luke Hartmann (21 catches, 232 yards, 3 TDs).

"There's team pride, individual pride on the line," Hitt said. "And the seniors knowing this is the last time they put on a Jackson uniform. It should mean something to them and they should try to make a statement with those thoughts in mind."

St. Pius (1-8, 0-2) at Scott City (1-8, 0-2)

Last week: Herculaneum 54, St. Pius 32; Crystal City 49, Scott City 21

Last year: St. Pius 22, Scott City 14

Class 2 District 2: Herculaneum (7-2, 2-0), Crystal City (6-3, 2-0)

Outlook: Both teams are playing for pride and their second win of the season after being eliminated from postseason contention last week.

Both teams bring in lengthy losing streaks and will look to end disappointing seasons on a positive note.

"This is a good senior group and we want to send them out the right way," Scott City coach Jim May said. "It would also help get a little of the bad taste out of your mouth because it's very frustrating right now, and to end on a good note would be very positive for me personally and the program."

St. Pius has lost eight straight since winning its season opener against Barat Academy. Outside of a 55-8 thrashing at the hands of Class 1 power Valle, the Warriors have been competitive throughout the season. St. Pius outgained both St. Vincent and Chaffee in total yardage but was undone by turnovers and penalties.

The Lancers rely heavily on the run in their Wing-T offense directed by senior quarterback Will Basler. Seniors Evan Temperato and Charlie Argana both have more than 500 yards rushing, while sophomore Talon Cook has topped 400 yards on just 44 carries. St. Pius' offensive line boasts 320-pound Bobby Tague and 295-pound Hayden Smith.

"All I want is a 'W' to hang on the wall, and it's not going to be easy," May said. "They're big."

Scott City has lost seven straight since a Week 2 victory against St. Vincent. The Rams also have been mistake-prone throughout the year.

"We've turned the football over so many times this year, and it's always been at a very inopportune time," May said.

The Rams were burned for 359 yards passing last week and gave up 537 yards overall. That came after they fumbled the game's opening kickoff.

"Whatever kind of emotion you have, it just crushes you right out of the gate, and you're trying to fight," May said. "We need something positive to go for us and try to get this thing going in the right direction."

Garett Schaefer had his seventh 100-yard rushing game last week. His 137 yards pushed his season total to 1,283 yards.

Central (8-1, 1-1) at Perryville (0-9, 0-2)

Last week: Sikeston 21, Central 0; Farmington 43, Perryville 7

Last year: Did not play

Class 4 District 1: Sikeston (9-0, 2-0), Farmington (7-2, 1-1)

Outlook: Central is looking to secure a playoff spot after suffering its first loss of the season in a showdown with unbeaten and state-ranked Sikeston.

Central saw its previously unstoppable running game get stonewalled by Sikeston, but the Tigers are pulling for the Bulldogs this week. A Sikeston win against Farmington and a Central win would put the Tigers in the playoffs. A Farmington victory and a Central win would put three teams at 2-1 and invoke the three-team tie-breaker, which involves points accumulated in district play. If Central defeats Perryville by 13 points, Farmington would need to beat Sikeston by at least 12 points to keep the Tigers out of the playoffs.

"We still have our fate in our own hands in some respect," Central coach Rich Payne said. "We have to go into Perryville and play hard and come out of there with something, and we'll just see where things fall."

The Pirates and Tigers last met in 2003, when Central won 42-0 on its way to winning the district title.

Perryville will have to contend with the Tigers' rushing attack this time around if it hopes to avoid a winless season and its 12th straight loss. Central averaged 340 yards rushing entering last week's game against Sikeston but only mustered 76 yards on 30 carries against the Bulldogs. The Tigers, who were 8-0 for the first time since 1972, had just 95 yards on offense as they returned to earth with a thud.

"Coming out of the game, I think initially they were hurt," Payne said. "It's like I say after a win, and the same way with the loss last week, you've got 24 hours to hurt, and it needs to hurt, and it did hurt. But at the same time, after 24 hours, it's time to get over it for coaches and players and move on to the next thing you have in front of you, and Perryville presents some challenges."

While Central encountered its first loss during the ninth week of the season, it is only one year removed from Perryville's current position. The Tigers came out on the short end of two 0-9 teams in last year's finale against archrival Jackson. In fact, the Tigers broke a 13-game losing streak with their first win this season.

"[Perryville] has nothing to lose, so we better bring our A game or we're going to be in for a long night. We've been in that role before, and [our players] know what that's like.

"I think they'll be ready to go. I know after [Monday[']s] practice, just what I saw out of them, they'll be focused on what we have to do."

Perryville has been outscored 380-65, while Central has outscored its opponents 346-110.

Senior running back Keilon Moore, who was held to 3 yards on six carries against Sikeston, leads the Tigers with 876 yards, while senior James Poindexter has 629 yards. Both players average around 10 yards a carry.

Junior quarterback Christian Cavaness has completed 60 percent of his passes with 10 of his 37 completions going for touchdowns.

SATURDAY

St. Vincent (2-7, 0-2) at Cleveland NJROTC (1-8, 0-2)

Last week: Valle Catholic 57, St. Vincent 8; Chaffee 41, Cleveland NJROTC 18

Last year: Did not play

Class 1 District 2: Chaffee (4-5, 2-0), Valle Catholic (8-1, 2-0)

Outlook: Both teams were eliminated from playoff contention last week. Both teams were overwhelmed by Valle but played Chaffee close into the second half in district play.

St. Vincent has lost its last four games, while Cleveland is on a six-game skid after its lone victory against Confluence Prep Academy.

"The kids would like to end it on a good note," St. Vincent coach Paul Sauer said. "The seniors want to go out with a win, and hopefully we go up there and do the things we're capable of doing in the first half and get on top of them. I think it's a ballgame we could win."

The Indians' victories this season have been against Missouri Military Academy and St. Pius X.

The knee injury sustained by junior quarterback Tim Schumer in the third week against MMA proved to be season ending. Schumer, who hoped to return late in the season, will not play Saturday.

"I think he's doing pretty good," Sauer said. "I think he'll be back for basketball."

St. Vincent senior guard Josh Welker, the Indians' only other returning starter on offense going into the season, also will not play. Welker has missed the last two games with a knee injury.

Cleveland has speed and talent, but it's young. The Commanders, who have just three seniors on the roster, started four freshmen and four sophomores on offense against St. Vincent. The young cast included freshman quarterback Antonio Burnett and freshman running back Michael Wells, who ran for 149 yards against Chaffee. Sophomore receiver Monteze Latimore is a dangerous weapon in an offense that is capable of producing big plays. Cleveland had three plays of at least 70 yards as it hung with Chaffee for three quarters.

"They've got some speed," Sauer said. "If you don't contain a couple of them, they're a threat to take it to the house. Hopefully we won't let them slip by us."

The game will be played at Southwest High School in St. Louis.

-- Jeff Breer