High school football capsules: Week 3

Sikeston (2-0) at Central (2-0)

Last week: Sikeston 35, New Madrid 6; Central 41, St. Charles West 21

Last year: Central 29, Sikeston 17 (Week 7)

Outlook: These longtime SEMO North rivals enter their 100th meeting unbeaten.

The rivalry, has gone through phases, with Sikeston holding a slight edge at 50-42-7. Since the start of the millennium, Central leads the series 8-7 after winning the last two meetings.

The Tigers enter the game ranked seventh in Class 4, moving up two spots after their win over then-state-ranked St. Charles West.

Senior quarterback Peyton Montgomery showed why his transfer from Chaffee was a critical addition for the Tigers, completing 11 of 12 attempts for 164 yards and rushing for 46 yards on 11 carries last week. Central junior Al Young also demonstrated his dual ability in scoring five touchdowns -- three by air and two rushing. He caught six passes for 106 yards and carried nine times for 173 yards. Young, who set the school's single-season receiving yards record last year, has a team-high numbers of 285 yards rushing and 106 yards receiving. He's averaging 13.6 yards per carry.

"I always like to have two or three running backs, and he happens to be one on the list," said Central coach Nathan Norman, who also has seniors Braion Owens (136 yards, 6.2 ypc) and Jalen Reddin (56, 6.2) and sophomore Tyler Banks (61, 6.8) in the mix.

Junior Earnest Fobbs leads Sikeston with 180 yards rushing (6.9 ypc). Fellow junior Victwon Riley has accumulated 122 yards (7.6 ypc) in the ground attack, which utilizes misdirection plays. Junior Nathan Hampton directs the offense, completing 8 of 21 passes for 136 yards.

"They're better at quarterback than they've been," Norman said. "They're not as one-dimensional as they've been."

Senior Corbyn Blissett leads the receivers with three catches for 81 yards.

"They're going to be physical, and we're going to have to play assignment football," Norman said.

Sikeston's defense has held both its opponents to under 90 yards total offense. However, Charleston and New Madrid County Central are both 0-2 and each lost decisively in their other contest.

"Honestly, it's been hard to get a read on [Sikeston] because their games have been so lopsided," Norman said.

Hayti (1-1) at Chaffee (0-2)

Last week: Hayti 62, Charleston 6; Portageville 35, Chaffee 0

Last year: Chaffee 47, Hayti 20 (Week 3)

Outlook: Chaffee interrupted Hayti's domination last season, breaking a 14-game losing streak to the Indians in Week 3. The Red Devils built a winning streak against Hayti in Week 10, ending the Indians' season in the first week of Class 1 District 1 action.

The Indians lost by six points to perennial power Thayer in Week 1, then blasted Charleston 62-6 in Week 2. Hayti, in its second season under coach Neal Crude, averaged more than 10 yards a carry in mounting 396 rushing yards against Charleston. Freshman Deva'nte Robinson led the Indians with 131 yards rushing and two scores on just six carries. Senior Cedric Fields added 83 yards on seven carries, while junior Jamal Brooks had seven carries for 47 yards.

"Where we're lacking, they've got speed, and that creates a problem for us," Chaffee coach Charlie Vickery said.

Austin Niesler is one of two quarterbacks the Indians use.

The Red Devils mounted just 57 yards rushing last week on 25 carries (120 yards overall), and are averaging 3.4 yards per carry on the season. They are averaging 143 yards of offense per game. Senior running back Thomas Robbins has been Chaffee's top offensive weapon this season with 157 yards rushing (6.3 ypc).

Vickery said the offense has made the task tougher on itself by picking up penalties.

"We're the type of team, without the speed, that we have to not make the mistakes," Vickery said.

Chaffee sophomore starting linebacker Kendall Eads sustained a concussion last week and will sit out tonight's game.

Jackson (2-0) at Marquette (1-1)

Last week: Jackson 30, Vianney 23; Marquette 50, Northwest (Cedar Hill) 14

Last year: Did not play

Outlook: The unbeaten Indians, ranked No. 2 in Class 5, face the first of two Class 6 schools on its schedule in Marquette. Jackson, which will play SEMO Conference North teams over the following four weeks, will face Class 6 Seckman in Week 8.

"This is a little bit of a trap, given the fact that we just had a pretty emotional game with Battle and then we had another emotional game with Vianney, and then we go into conference next week," Jackson coach Brent Eckley said. "This is one of those [games] where we have to do a good job focusing, And they'll be completely focused on us, for sure. We'll have to come out ready to play and have the right amount of emotion."

The Indians held on for a seven-point win over district opponent Vianney last week. Jackson displayed a balanced attack with senior quarterback Dante Vandeven leading the way with 227 yards passing and 134 rushing (6.0 ypc). After senior Ben Maudie topped 100 yards receiving in Week 1, Xominique Davis eclipsed the mark in Week 2 with six catches for 160 yards.

Marquette has a ground-oriented attack with 554 of its 660 yards through two games coming by the rush, according to stltoday.com. The Mustangs have averaged 7.4 yards per carry with three senior running backs leading the way. Jacobi Boykin has a team-high 171 rushing yards (5.0 ypc) and four scores, but Charles Turner (14.3 ypc, 143 yards) and Jack Whitworth (8.1 ypc, 138) both average more per carry, as does sophomore Xavier Jackson (12.3 ypc, 74).

Junior Jason Powers directs the Mustangs' offense. He has completed 11 of 21 passes but has thrown three interceptions and no touchdowns.

Marquette rebounded from a 24-point Week 1 loss to Ritenour to win by 36 points last week vs. Northwest. The Mustangs averaged more than 10 yards a carry on their 34 rush attempts in the victory. Turner, who had no carries in the season opener, led the way in Week 2 with 143 yards. Boykin topped the 100-yard mark in Week 1.

Eckley expects his team to be bigger on the lines than the Mustangs.

"They're not monsters up front, but they've got a good offensive line that plays physically and gets off the ball well, and the defensive line is pretty athletic," Eckley said.

Eckley said the Mustangs have good size at linebacker, a group that includes the 210-pound Boykin.

East Prairie (2-0) at Scott City (1-1)

Last week: East Prairie 63, Grandview 6; Scott City 26, St. Vincent 7

Last year: Scott City 33, East Prairie 27 (OT)

Outlook: Scott City, fresh off its first win of the season, finds a revitalized East Prairie team. The Eagles, off to their first 2-0 start since 2009, already have matched their win output from the last three seasons combined. East Prairie went 1-9 in 2013, 0-10 in 2012 and 1-9 in 2011.

Quarterback Brett Ellis, a veteran despite being a junior, directs the Eagles offense.

"They're kind of like us," Scott City coach Jim May said. "They're a year older. They've been really young just like we have. We both have been taking our lumps, and hopefully both of us can start to see the fruits of that."

Scott City's overtime win against the Eagles last year was one of two victories for the Rams.

Scott City sophomore quarterback Ty Wilthong injured an ankle against St. Vincent last week and is questionable for tonight's game.

"He's getting better every day," May said. "We're hopeful. If he can't go, Braden [Cox] will step back in there and fill the role."

Cox, a sophomore, had seven catches for 60 yards last week, while senior Caleb Sykes led the run attack with 136 yards.

Rams sophomore Caden Hillemann should return at outside linebacker after spraining an ankle in the season-opening loss to Herculaneum.

The Rams look to avoid the four turnovers they committed in last week's win.

"You can't turn the ball over four times and expect to win," May said. "We need to do a good job up front defensively. We did a really good job last week, I felt like, but it will be a taller task this week."

St. Vincent (0-2) at Kelly (0-2)

Last week: Scott City 26, St. Vincent 7; Crystal City 20, Kelly 18

Last year: Did not play

Outlook: Kelly played its first varsity game in school history in Week 1, and came two heart-breaking seconds away from its first varsity win in Week 2.

Kelly held its first halftime lead -- a 12-8 advantage -- and led 18-14 late against Crystal City. However, Crystal City scored on a 24-yard pass in the closing moments to spoil the Hawks' first home game.

For the third straight week, Kelly will host an opponent with the same record.

The Indians have struggled on offense this season with a total of seven points. St. Vincent was routed by defending Class 1 state champion Valle in Week 1, then grabbed its first lead of the season last week before Scott City answered with 26 unanswered points.

St. Vincent committed four first-half turnovers last week.

Park Hills (2-0) at Perryville (2-0)

Last week: Park Hills 55, Jefferson 7; Perryville 23, St. Pius 17

Last year: Park Hills 41, Perryville 0 (Week 7)

Outlook: Perryville is off to a 2-0 start for the second straight year, but the Pirates want the resemblance to the 2013 campaign to end right there. Perryville started an eight-game skid in Week 3 last year and finished with a 2-8 mark.

Park Hills, ranked sixth in Class 3, also has repeated a 2-0 start, which had considerably more staying power than the Pirates' start. The Rebels eventually reached the Class 3 quarterfinals with a 13-0 record, where they sustained a 24-14 loss to John Burroughs.

The Rebels appear to be strong again, opening with a 34-27 win over Class 4 Sullivan and averaging 44.5 points of offense in their first two games.