High school football capsules: Week 3

Central (1-1) at Sikeston (2-0)

Last week: Cape Central 33, St. Charles West 12; Sikeston 55, New Madrid County Central 6

Last year: Cape Central 47, Sikeston 7 (regular season); Central 56, Sikeston 7 (Class 4 District 1)

Outlook: The Tigers have won the last three meetings between the two SEMO Conference North teams, including a 49-point drubbing in a district semifinal last season.

The Bulldogs hold a 50-44-7 lead in the all-time series but will take the underdog role against a Central team that enters tonight's matchup ranked 10th in the Class 4 media rankings.

The Tigers are coming off a road win over St. Charles West last week, and fifth-year coach Nathan Norman believes in the practice routine he's tried to establish over the years.

"It's always good to get the first one under your belt, but we're going to stay consistent with the same thing all year. And we've tried to do that the past several years here," Norman said. "We want to get better at Cape Central football. You obviously worry about your opponent and what they're going to do alignment-wise and scheme-wise, but the No. 1 concern is about us and us getting better each week. That's what we focus on."

Central may have found its answer at running back in 5-foot-11, 195-pound sophomore Aaron Harris, who rushed for 104 yards and one touchdown on 15 carries last week. Harris also starts at linebacker and leads the Tigers' defense with 19 tackles and 5 1/2 tackles for loss.

Norman said he's been emphasizing to his squad about improving as positional players.

"We try to get better at what we do. I know it's kind of boring and mundane, but that's the secret to what we've been able to do the last couple of years," Norman said. "We just try to get better at the basics and fundamentals of football every week and get better at our jobs. We watch film and hope we learn from our mistakes, and we just work on getting better as football players."

Sikeston primarily runs its offense out of double-wing formation but is also known to spread it out. The Bulldogs are led by senior running backs Earnest Fobbs and Victwon Riley, who have combined for 377 yards and seven scores on 37 carries.

Senior quarterback Nathan Hampton is 7-of-10 passing for 96 yards and two touchdowns, while backup quarterback Deonundre Johnson has also seen playing time in Sikeston's two lopsided victories -- the Bulldogs defeated Charleston 53-6 in the opener and cruised past New Madrid County Central by a 49-point margin in Week 2 -- with 108 yards and two touchdowns on 4-of-6 passing.

"Obviously they're a team that we respect, and they're very well-coached every year. Coach [Kent] Gibbs and his staff do a great job year-in and year-out, and those kids will be ready to play," Norman said. "They'll play with a lot of excitement and a lot of emotion, and that's what you ask of a high school team. That's what we're going to expect to see Friday night.

"As far as what they do offensively, they're going to try to run the ball and pound the ball at you. If you're fortunate enough to stop that, they're capabale of spreading it out as well. You've got to be ready for multiple sets with them, and you've got to stay with your assignments and tackle well."

Central wide receiver Al Young was removed from the season opener against Vashon as a precaution but returned to the lineup last week against the Warriors, playing limited time on defense. The senior standout leads the Tigers with 349 yards from scrimmage and five touchdowns on 36 touches.

Norman said the team enters tonight's game at full strength.

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

Last week: East Prairie 48, Grandview 14; Scott City 33, St. Vincent 6

Last year: Scott City 46, East Prairie 45; East Prairie 51, Scott City 22 (Class 2 District 1)

Outlook: East Prairie is off to its second straight 2-0 start after having trudged through a 1-9 record in 2013. The Eagles, led by returning senior quarterback Brent Ellis, are an experienced group that has continued the momentum from last year's 7-4 season.

The Eagles, who return eight starters on both sides of the ball, posted a 41-0 win over Kelly in Week 1 before hanging 48 points on Grandview in a 34-point win in Week 2.

Junior running back Deverence Jones is off to a fast start after accumulating nearly 2,000 all-purpose yards and 15 TDs as a sophomore. He came flying out of the gates against Kelly, rushing for 168 yards and two TDs on just eight carries as the Eagles piled up 459 yards on the ground.

"They have a lot of size and lot of speed, and coach [Chad] Jamerson does a really good job with them ," Scott City coach Jim May said about East Prairie. "It will be a challenge."

"They have some game-breaking speed in both [Derez] Tipler and Jones," May said. "They have overall good team speed. Their linebackers are fast and their wide receivers are very fast and they're big up front. They play really yard and really disciplined."

Scott City, riding the momentum of dominant wins against Herculaneum and St. Vincent, counters with its own junior of note. All-purpose player Braden Cox is off to a fast start after rushed for 1,190 yards as a sophomore. He's scored five TDs and thrown one TD over the first two games and is averaging 7.5 yards per rush on 20 attempts for 158 yards.

The Rams have scored at least 33 points in each win, while allowing just six points to each opponent.

Scott City had three turnovers against St. Vincent and committed eight penalties and several other offset in a flag-plagued game against St. Vincent.

"We have to do a much better job of taking care of the football," May said. "We can't turn the ball over four times -- we'll get beat. We have to do a better job with penalties. Stupid penalties will hurt us badly. We're going to have to play disciplined football, really hard and really physical."

An area to watch in the game will be the battle of the trenches. The Rams, who start a freshman and a sophomore at offensive tackle, returned just one starter on the offensive line and have yet to run into an experienced group up front like the Eagles.

"Herculaneum was really big [up front], but East Prairie is better than they are," May said. "East Prairie is similar in size but their more athletic up front, so it's going to be a big challenge for us, for sure."

Defensive lineman Noah Potter and receiver/defensive back Nick Bickings are both banged up and will be game-time decisions for the Rams.

The two teams both reside in Class 2 District 1 and could potentially meet again down the road.

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

Last week: Marquette 42, Northwest (Cedar Hill) 0; Vianney 52, Jackson 28

Last year: Jackson 22, Marquette 14

Outlook: Defending Class 5 state champion Battle and Class 5 District 1 rival Vianney both made the most of their opportunity to avenge losses to Jackson.

The payback line continues tonight for the Indians, as a third tough customer seeks to avenge a loss from the 2014 season in which Jackson compiled a 10-2 record in reaching the Class 5 quarterfinals.

Marquette, one of two Class 6 schools on the Indians' schedule, enters unbeaten and also looking to avenge a 2014 loss.

As far as record goes, this is new territory for Jackson under fourth-year coach Brent Eckley. The Indians had won their previous three season openers under Eckley and got off to 5-0 starts in 2012 and 2104. In 2013, the Indians stood 6-1 at one point.

Eckley took some positives out of last week's loss to Vianney, a game which he said his team executed well for the first 16 minutes in building 21-7 lead.

"A positive is, with two losses, our kids expect to win," Eckley said. "With two losses I don't have guys chirping at each other. We're all still pulling together through this adversity. I'm proud of the kids for that, and our kids have never laid down and quit. Our guys that are on this team this year have been successful on the freshman level and JV level, and the last couple years on the varsity level the guys who have been around, so they're used to winning, and sometimes you get into that situation where you're not, and you can get down, and they haven't done that."

Eckley said the message to his team has been not to jump to conclusions and to trust in the coaches, each other and the hard work they've invested.

After yielding 35 first-half points to Battle in the opener, the Indians allowed more-than 600 yards offense to Vianney.

Eckley said the offense and defense share responsibility in the opponent's success offensively.

"You look at our first two games, and we are averaging essentially five turnovers a game," Eckley said. "You look at getting a punt blocked and another time getting a bad snap and choosing not to punt, in addition to giving up a safety, you add up those turnovers and that's an average of five a game. And last year's team, when we averaged five turnovers a game, we were 0-2. We talked about that, if we take care of the football ... If we only turn it over twice last Friday, we've got a chance to win it."

Vianney ran 92 offensive plays against the Indians last week, which Eckley said wore down his squad.

The turnovers have resulted in short fields, and Eckley and his staff have been stressing ball security and trying to force their own turnovers, tackling in space on defense and maintaining blocks on offense.

"We're improving which is what we need," Eckley said.

Marquette is coming off a thrashing of Northwest (Cedar Hill) where the Mustangs scored 21 points in each of the first two quarters before settling a scoreless second half.

Marquette lost three of its leading rushers to graduation last spring, but return junior Xavier Jackson, who accounted for more than half of Marquette's 145 rushing yards last week on three carries for 79 yards, according to stltoday.com. Jackson averages 6.8 ypc with a team-high 156 yards on the season.

"They've got two kids in the backfield, that if they get behind us, it's over," Eckley said. "They have some really good speed. They had break-away plays against Ritenour, and if Ritenour can't catch you, you're fast."

Returning starting quarterback Jason Powers, a senior, had a stellar game last week, completing 9 of 10 passes for 150 yards and three touchdowns. Hit top target was Turner Cook, who had four catches for 92 yards. Powers completed 11 of 21 passes for 143 yards in a season-opening 21-20 win over Ritenour, with two going to Cook, who has a team-high six receptions on the season. Cairon Wesley, Nicholas Bulanda and Jackson all have four catches.

Eckley said the Mustangs have multiple looks on offense, utilizing a spread formation more than in the past, and present a three-man front on defense that allows for stunting . He added that an athletic secondary plays up on receivers tries to take them out of routes.

"Marquette has some things that they do that will be tough to deal with," Eckley said. "They have some good athletes. They're not an overly huge team, but they've got some good speed and get off the ball well, just like last year, and they return a bunch of those kids, so it will be a challenge."

The Mustangs' defense held Northwest, which did not complete either of its two passes, to 132 yards rushing. Marquette was outgained in total yardage in its win against Ritenour, allowing 307 yards and gaining 280.

Senior quarterback Triston Thele, who rushed for all four of Jackson's TDs last week in accumulating a team-high 129 yards on 16 carries, continues to operate the Jackson offense in the absence of sophomore Cooper Callis, who was the team's No. 1 quarterback this summer before developing an elbow injury to his throwing arm.

"We're still a couple weeks away from him being able to play," Eckley said about Callis.

Indians sophomore running back Ethan Laster is coming off his first career 100-yard game with seven carries for 122 yards. He has 181 yards on the season. Junior running back Bryndan Reid has 122 yards on the year.

The Indians are averaging just over 400 yards offense a game.

"If we can just be even [on turnovers], we're going to be in games," Eckley said. 'Essentially in two weeks were down zero to 10 in turnovers, and it's been a long time since we've been that far in the hole."

Chaffee (1-1) at Hayti (1-1)

Last week: Portageville 49, Chaffee 14; Hayti 36, Charleston 14

Last year: Hayti 46, Chaffee 8

Outlook: A 35-point loss to Portageville didn't weigh heavy on the mind of Red Devils coach Charlie Vickery, whose team trailed by only 14 points three minutes into the fourth quarter before the Bulldogs tacked on three more scores in the final quarter.

Vickery was most pleased with the way his team battled in the trenches.

"I thought our lines both on the offense and defense played well," Vickery said. "... Our kids were just kind of worn down a little bit, and they got some big plays right there at the end. I felt like we're playing much more physical than we have been, especially from last year. I think we're getting better every game."

Chaffee will take on an Indians team that has won 15 of the last 16 meetings, but Vickery believes his players have shown a lot of improvement since the start of the season.

"We tell them, 'The only way we're going to get better is to practice,' and our practices have really been good," Vickery said. "As long as we continue to practice like we've been practicing, we're going to keep getting better every day and every week."

Hayti picked up its first win of the season last week, racking up 425 total yards of offense in a 22-point win over Charleston. Running back Jamal Brooks led the Indians with 11 rushes for 190 yards and two scores. Quarterback Maurice Farr added 83 yards and a touchdown on the ground and was also 6-of-13 passing for 91 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Wide receiver Dayon Moore had a game-high 48 receiving yards to go along with one score.

Vickery said the key to slowing down the Indians will be forcing them to drive the field.

"They've got weapons everywhere, lots of speed," Vickery said about Hayti. "... The main thing is they're just such a big-play team that they can score anytime from everywhere. We'll have our hands full there for sure. We'll just have to eliminate big plays."

Freshman quarterback Landon Tenkhoff leads the Red Devils with 50 carries for 258 yards. He's also helped Chaffee through the air, contributing 210 yards on 21-of-43 passing. Devon Nanney also has 28 touches for 227 yards from scrimmage.

Vickery said senior Jordan Wilburn (knee) is expected to miss the remainder of the season. Wilburn started at quarterback a year ago but switched to wide receiver this season.

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

Last week: Crystal City 65, Kelly 33; Scott City 33, St. Vincent 6

Last year: Kelly 20, St. Vincent 14

Outlook: Last year's game between these two teams provided the first varsity win for the Kelly football program.

For the second straight year, the teams are entering with 0-2 records. One of two trends will change tonight: Kelly has yielded 106 points over the first two weeks of the season, while St. Vincent has scored just six points.

Kelly, directed by junior quarterback Kyle Fitzgerald, scored 33 points against Crystal City last week after getting shut out by East Prairie in Week 1.

St. Vincent offensive tackle/defensive end Luke Wibbenmeyer was injured in last week's game and will miss tonight's game, while fullback Tyler Unerteinner will be a game-time decision.

The Indians will be looking to avoid yellow flags after racking up 160 yards of penalties on 16 infractions in last week's loss to Scott City.

"Last week we were penalized it looked like on every other play," St. Vincent coach Nathan Rowland said. "That's just unacceptable if you want to win football games. So we've worked on that."

The Indians, led by senior quarterback Joe Whistler, who leads the team in rushing, managed less than 200 yards total offense against Scott City, with nearly all its yardage offset by penalties.

"Offensively, we've just got to get on track," Rowland said. "Last week we were unable to get anything going . We dropped passes, a couple interceptions and a bunch of penalties that killed our drives."

Rowland also said his squad will have to focus on Kelly senior running back/receiver Maurice Davis, the reigning Class 2 state champion in the 100 meters in track.

"Our goal is to shut him down and make someone else beat us," Rowland said.

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

Last week: Perryville 56, St. Pius 7; Park Hills Central 43, Jefferson 0

Last year: Park Hills Central 42, Perryville 12

Outlook: For the third year in a row, Perryville enters the third week of the season with a 2-0 record. This is the week the Pirates want to change the course of history after assembling eight-game losing streaks over the remainder of both the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

And speaking of eight-game losing streaks, the Pirates have dropped their last eight encounters with the Rebels, who enter this meeting unbeaten and ranked No. 6 in Class 3.

Perryville's last triumph over Park Hills was a 21-20 victory in 2006, part of a 5-5 campaign for the Pirates that was their last non-losing season.

Quarterback Jake Bridges leads the Rebels' offense, while linebacker Drew Harlow leads a defense that allowed just 40 yards to Jefferson last week. Harlow had a team-high 11 tackles in the win. Tyreece Welch and Triston Campbell are weapons on offense, along with Harlow.

Perryville has averaged 46 points through its first two games. The Pirates rushed for 347 yards and compiled 483 yards offense against St. Pius. The Pirates, led by the running of juniors Aaron Mueller and Kyle Creason, have averaged 291 yards rushing in their 2-0 start. Junior quarterback Brandon Renaud completed 12 of 15 passes for 136 yards against St. Pius.

-- By Jeff Breer and Trent Singer