High school football capsules for Week 6

Central (4-0) at St. Charles West (5-0)

Last week: Central 44, North County 7; St. Charles West 30, Duchesne 7

Last year: Central 47, St. Charles West 0

Outlook: This game is a battle of unbeatens.

"Our kids are excited to play a 5-0 team," Central coach Nathan Norman said. "They're looking forward to the challenge."

The Tigers scored 30 second-half points to pull away from North County last week. Sophomore running back Mikey Jones led Central's ground attack with 113 yards. Jones' six carries included touchdown runs of 55 and 44 yards in a 23-point third quarter. Jones leads the team with 233 yards rushing on 26 carries. Senior quarterback Christian Cavaness is next with 218 yards.

The 44 points against North County were a season high for the Tigers, who average 30 points a game. Central is giving up 11.2 points a game.

St. Charles has averaged 36 points a game on offense and yielded 17.4.

Only one of the Warriors' first five opponents, Fort Zumwalt South (4-1), currently owns a winning record.

The Warriors have a potent running attack that mixes in timely passing. The Warriors average 276.4 yards rushing per game and 107.5 passing.

"They run the ball well. They use some misdirection and they throw the ball more than you would think," Norman said. "They don't throw it a lot, but when they do it's obviously play action. It's a good offense that they run."

The Warriors, who generally operate out of a wishbone, average 8.0 yards a rush. Senior running back Austin Rugraff leads the way with 10.5 yards per carry and 418 yards. Junior Marcus Taylor is second with 9.7 yards per carry and 389 yards.

"They hurt teams more on the inside rather than the edge," Norman said.

Sophomore quarterback Kyle Anders averages 7 yards a carry on his 24 attempts, and he has completed nearly 50 percent of his passes for 538 yards. Sophomore Ryan Finders is his favorite target with 21 catches for 401 yards. He's hauled in five of Anders' seven touchdown passes.

Senior Tyler Hanneke, a 6-foot-4 defensive end, has six sacks, while Taylor has a team-high four interceptions.

The Tigers come into the game with improved health on both sides of the ball.

"It's one of the first times this year I can say we're healthy," Norman said.

Chaffee (3-2) at East Prairie (1-4)

Last week: Scott City 34, Chaffee 20; Mountain View Liberty 48, East Prairie 0

Last year: East Prairie 42, Chaffee 0

Outlook: East Prairie has won the last three meetings by a combined 143-8.

"They've got us pretty good the last few years," said Chaffee coach Charlie Vickery, whose squad is coming off a loss to rival Scott City. "Our mission is to bounce back from last week and right the ship a little bit. I think we will. It's a tough game to put behind you, but you've got to get it behind you and move on. There wasn't anything we can't correct."

Chaffee senior Tyson Estes rushed for 138 yards against Scott City and has 526 yards and eight touchdowns this season. He averages 7.4 yards a carry. Senior quarterback Jordan Yahn has completed more than 50 percent of his passes and thrown for 428 yards. His leading receiver is sophomore Charlie Montgomery, who has 13 catches for 204 yards.

East Prairie graduated most of its top contributors from last year's 6-4 team.

"They're young and they've got some kids injured, but I'll tell you what, just like always, East Prairie plays hard," Vickery said. "So if you go in there expecting that you're going to be able to do just what you want, you're going to be sadly mistaken."

East Prairie runs a wing-T offense and relies heavily on the run.

Quarterback Dalton Golightly only has attempted 37 passes this season, completing 15. Frankie Nave is the Eagles' top rusher, running for 253 yards on 63 carries.

Portageville (1-4) at Scott City (3-2)

Last week: Kennett 40, Portageville 22; Scott City 34, Chaffee 20

Last year: Portageville 37, Scott City 13

Outlook: Portageville has won the last two games by a combined 72-13 after Scott City won the previous three meetings.

Scott City defeated rival Chaffee last week for its third win. The Rams were 2-8 the previous two seasons under coach Jim May.

"We did a lot of good things, we really did, but we did a lot of things that weren't so good," May said about the win against Chaffee. "We didn't drive the ball up and down the field like I wanted to early."

Junior running back Travis Phillips rushed for 143 yards against Chaffee and has 611 yards this season. Junior quarterback Jonathan McFall has completed 65 percent of his passes. Seniors Austin Atchley and Zach Cotner both have more than 220 yards receiving.

Portageville lost its season opener 58-0 to unbeaten Caruthersville but has averaged 31 points in his last four games. One of its losses was a 47-30 setback to Chaffee.

Quarterback Bryce Wallace directs Portageville's spread offense which is about a 50-50 mix between run and pass. Top weapons in the Bulldogs' attack are Tevin Walker, Dominique Walker and Daniel Allen.

"They're a scary ball club to match up with," Vickery said. "They've played well, and it just seems like they've made some mistakes that's not allowed them to win. But boy they've got a lot of talent. I was telling the kids at practice, 'If you come out here thinking it's going to be easy, we're going to get killed Friday night.' We're going to have to play exceptionally well to have the opportunity to win."

Vashon (2-3) at Jackson (1-4)

Last week: Vashon 40, Roosevelt 6; Sikeston 35. Jackson 9

Last year: Vashon 21, Jackson 20

Outlook: Jackson, coming off back-to-back SEMO Conference losses, will attempt to avenge last year's one-point loss to Vashon.

Vashon broke a three-game losing streak last week. The Wolverines surrendered 150 points combined in consecutive losses to Union, Gateway Tech and Miller Career Academy. Vashon had opened the season with a 27-25 win against Poplar Bluff.

"It's basically the same bunch we played last year," Jackson coach Van HItt said. "The same running back and same quarterback. They have good size and they're very athletic."

Vashon quarterback Deion Davis threw five touchdown passes in last week's rout of Roosevelt.

"He throws the ball real well," Hitt said. "And if he gets flushed out of the pocket, he can throw the ball on the move very accurately."

Four of his receivers pulled in touchdowns last week. Derrick Mitchell had two touchdown catches, while Devin Herndon, Marvin Gilmore and Brandon Jones each had one. Gilmore had two catches for 104 yards. Davis completed 8 of 12 passes for 219 yards. He has completed 46 of 87 attempts on the season for 835 yards and nine touchdowns.

Carlee Hemphill is Vashon's top receiver this season with 17 catches for 344 yards, but he did not have a catch last week.

Tyler Lomax is the Wolverines top rusher with 28 carries for 177 yards. Mitchell is next with 15 carries for 128 yards. Gilmore is right behind with 15 receptions for 324 yards.

Jackson will return Lowgn Wren at quarterback after the junior missed last week for unspecified reasons. Wren only has attempted 29 passes this season but has 17 completions. Sophomore Brandon Wright leads the receivers with five catches for 83 yards.

Sophomore Colten Proffer leads the Indians' running attack with 261 yards on 44 carries.

"We're going to try to put long drives together, eight-to-10 play drives and score on them, because they can score on any play," Hitt said.

Saturday Maplewood (3-2) at Perryville (1-4)

Last week: Maplewood 31, Park Hills 6; Fredericktown 19, Perryville 0

Last year: Maplewood 55, Perryville 0

Outlook: Perryville suffered two big losses last Friday, a week after breaking a 15-game losing streak.

The Pirates struggled on offense as they were shut out for the first time this season, but they also lost their top running back and starting outside linebacker Kirk Hadler for the season. Hadler, one of only seven seniors on the team and also the Pirates' backup quarterback, tore his ACL and MCL in his right knee and will have surgery.

"He was a two-way starter, but the main thing is he was a hell of a leader for us," Perryville coach Mike Wojtczuk said. "It's hard to replace a kid like that. You can't replace a kid like that. There's too many intangibles that go with having a player on the field like that. It'll probably take two or three players rolled into one to try and replace a kid like that."

Wyatt McAfee and Levi Zook will get increased carries at running back. The linebacker spot still is unsettled.

Maplewood is ranked No. 8 in Class 2 and both its losses came by one point. The Blue Devils lost their opener 36-35 to MICDS and fell 26-25 to Ste. Genevieve in Week 4. Those two teams have a combined 9-1 record.

Maplewood handled Park Hills, which beat Perryville 42-7, handily last week. Both teams beat Potosi, which accounts for the Pirates' lone win.

Freshman running back Elijah Keely and junior quarterback Kahlid Hagens are the top offensive threats in the Blue Devils' spread offense. Keely has rushed for 401 yards and averages 7.4 yards a carry. Hagens is the team's second-leading rusher, averaging 6.2 yards a carry, and has completed 58 percent of his passes for 810 yards and five touchdowns.

"They're fast," Wojtczuk said. "We're going to have to get them, and get them quick. If we miss them right out of the chute, with that speed ... we're going to have a hard time dealing with that speed."

Junior Cortland Brooks and senior Kashon Hagens both have 16 receptions and more than 200 yards receiving for Maplewood.

-- Jeff Breer