High school football capsules Week 4: Tigers seek back-to-back wins at home

Fort Zumwalt East (3-0) at Central (1-2)

Last week: Fort Zumwalt East 18, Hickman 12; Central 34, Poplar Bluff 13

Last year: Fort Zumwalt East 21, Central 7

Outlook: The Tigers are coming off their first win of the season, and it was an impressive one over previously unbeaten Poplar Bluff.

"It was huge," Central coach Nathan Norman said. "It doesn't solve all of our problems, but it was one that we needed. I think the most important thing is they're having a little bit of fun [this week], and that always helps."

The Tigers found plenty of offense in the absence of injured senior running back Mikey Jones, who will return this week. Senior quarterback Dennis Vinson had his best passing day, completing 6 of 10 passes for 206 yards. Sophomore Al Young had three catches for 88 yards, while junior Braion Owens had two for 72. Owens also had a team-high 63 yards rushing and now leads the team with 240 yards (4.9 ypc) on the season. Jones is second with 230 (5.3 ypc).

Young leads the receivers with eight catches for 230 yards (28.8 ypc).

The Tigers face another unbeaten team in Fort Zumwalt, which trailed 12-10 late in last week's win over Class 6 Hickman. Junior quarterback Shane Barrett scored on an 8-yard run in the final minute for the winning TD. He also scored on 1-yard run in the opening quarter.

Barrett, who ran for a 54-yard TD against Central last year, is the Lions' primary weapon. He is listed at 5 foot 8 and 165 pounds.

"He's just athletic," Norman said. "He's an accurate passer and he's a threat running the ball. He's got good speed. He's just a playmaker. He doesn't have a lot of size, and it's not like he's a track star, but he's just big enough and strong enough that he can hurt you in both aspects."

Barrett ran for three TDs in Week 2 against Francis Howell North, while passing for one. He threw two TDs and ran for a third in a Week 1 win vs. Francis Howell Central. He leads the team with 453 yards rushing (6.3 ypc), according to stltoday.com.

"They have athletes at the skill positions and a good line on both sides of the football," Norman said.

Barrett's top receivers are sophomore Dan Morris (8-137) and junior Matt Etherton (10-126).

Chaffee (3-0) at Portageville (1-2)

Last week: Chaffee 47, Hayti 20; Malden 32, Portageville 19

Last year: Portageville 21, Chaffee 6

Outlook: Chaffee got off to its first 3-0 start since 1969 (a 6-0 start) as it ended a 14-game losing streak to nemesis Hayti.

The Red Devils have met little resistance to this point, outscoring its first three opponents by a combined 102-13 in the first half.

Chaffee quarterback Peyton Montgomery continued a strong junior campaign by factoring into all six Red Devil TDs last week: He passed for four and ran for two.

Montgomery has 210 yards rushing on the season (8.4 ypc) and has completed 59 percent of his passes for 439 yards.

His passes have been well distributed to seniors Layton Tenkhoff (8-141), Charlie Montgomery (11-120) and Devon Yahn (10-135).

Senior Jimmy Golden leads the ground attack with 269 yards (5.7 ypc).

Portageville has lost its last two games after opening the season with a 39-21 win against St. Pius. Chaffee beat St. Pius 31-14 the following week.

Portageville has lost many of its key offensive weapons that helped beat the Red Devils last season. Among the graduated are seniors Daniel Allen -- he had 1,700 yards last year -- Dominique Walker and Dion Foster.

"They're not as experienced as last year, but they definitely have some weapons," Chaffee coach Charlie Vickery said.

The Bulldogs still have a ground-oriented attack, running three backs, wishbone and power-I.

"Their game is more of a power, ball-control type team," Vickery said about the ground-oriented offense. "That makes their passing game very good when they do throw it, because, they run, run, run, then set you up."

Sophomore Jon Garrett Kellams directs the offense, with last year's quarterback, Bryce Wallace, now serving as a receiver. Kellams ran for one TD last week and threw two TDs to senior receiver Ben Story, who had five catches for 118 yards.

Vickery said senior linebacker Cole Hanna will miss this week's game but should return for Week 5's matchup against rival Scott City.

Malden (2-1) at Scott City (1-2)

Last week: Malden 32, Portageville 19; Scott City 33, East Prairie 27 (OT)

Last year: Malden 36, Scott City 26

Outlook: Scott City will attempt to build on the momentum of its first victory, a dramatic come-from-behind overtime one at that.

The Rams rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit as it blanked East Prairie in the second half and overtime. Freshman quarterback Braden Cox ultimately gave Scott City its first lead with a 13-yard run in OT.

Scott City had a season-high 260 yards rushing the ball against East Prairie after struggling the first two weeks. Senior Gordy Bradley led the way with 32 carries for 167 yards. The Rams' 340 total yards also were a season high.

"That's the first time we've kind of got it going," Scott City coach Jim May said. "The kids were really feeding off it and they felt really good after the game. They almost felt they were unstoppable at some points."

Cox has been effective, completing 65 percent of his passes for 339 yards. His top targets are senior Zach Carlyle (7-100) and junior Austin Spriggs (2-110).

The Rams' task will be much tougher this week.

Malden's only loss was a 32-7 setback to Class 2 power Caruthersville in Week 2. The Green Wave opened their season with a shutout of Class 3 New Madrid.

"They're real big and they've got some speed in the backfield," May said.

Malden graduated its top running back from last year in Romello McCoy and mounted just 19 points through its first two games this season, but the Wave rolled off a season-high 32 points last week. Eighteen of those points came in the fourth quarter as Malden rallied 19-14 deficit.

Quarterback Chapen Riley connected for two TD passes to Jeremy Jones. Dremond Robinson added three short short touchdowns runs and finished with 167 yards rushing.

Jackson (2-1) at Poplar Bluff (2-1)

Last week: Jackson 38, Farmington 7; Central 34, Poplar Bluff 13

Last year: Jackson 41, Poplar Bluff 14

Outlook: Jackson rebounded from its only loss with a pounding of Farmington in its SEMO Northern Conference opener. The Indians mounted 484 yards of offense, including 331 yards on the ground. Junior quarterback Dante Vandeven led the way with 127 yards on 16 carries. Senior running back Garrett Miller pronounced himself healthy with five carries for 106 yards. Miller had missed the second half of the Vianney game after taking a hard hit in the back while attempting to make a catch. Miller upped his team-leading rushing total to 333 yards and averages 16.5 yards per carry.

Jackson coach Brent Eckley said senior Colten Proffer, last year's leading rusher who has been sidelined for all but a handful of plays this season with a sprained ankle, may return to the offensive attack this week.

"I'm hoping so," Eckley said. "He practiced [Wednesday] for the first time this week."

Bluff's two wins have come against Union and winless Dexter, who have a combined 1-5 record. The Mules failed their first test against better competition last week. Junior running back Bi Nguyen rushed for 136 yards, but was held to 4.4 yards per carry after busting loose for 34 yards on his first play of the night.

Eckley expects a heavy dose of Nguyen, who ran for a school-record 320 yards in Week 1 and has 576 yards (8.0 ypc). on the season.

"They're going to stick it right at us if they can," Eckley said.

Poplar Bluff had difficulty moving the ball in the air after it fell behind Central. Sophomore quarterback Kameron Mismer completed just 8 of 24 attempts for 80 yards.

Eckley said a forecast for rain could be a factor.

"Which team deals with the elements best, and which team can take care of the ball," Eckley said about key factors in tonight's game. "That makes it [the rain] a little bit of an uphill battle for us considering they outweigh us quite a bit per man. Sometimes on a regular field that's not an issue, but on a wet field in can be."

Fredericktown (1-2) at Perryville (2-1)

Last week: Park Hills 25, Fredericktown 0; Potosi 27, Perryville 0

Last year: Fredericktown 47, Perryville 7

Outlook: Both teams will not only be trying to return to the win column, but also the scoring column after being shut out last week.

Perryville mounted just 72 yards of total offense and was haunted by five turnovers. Junior quarterback Tyler Holligan was intercepted three times while completing just 10 of 32 attempts. Through three games, Perryville has committed nine turnovers.

Senior Cody Crawford leads the ground attack with 204 yards rushing (4.7 ypc) on the season.

St. Vincent (1-2) at Herculaneum (1-2)

Last week: Valle 48, St. Vincent 0; Jefferson 66, Herculaneum 30

Last year: Herculaneum 19, St. Vincent 6

Outlook: St. Vincent looks to get back on the winning track after a pummeling at the hands of perennial Class 1 power Valle.

The Indians trailed 34-0 at halftime against the 11-time state champion Warriors

Alex Winkler is the Indians' top rusher on the season.

Herculaneum's ground-oriented offense revolves heavily around senior running back Dustin Johnson, who has rushed for 417 yards (6.2 ypc), according to stltoday.com. Josh Church is second with 111 yards (7.4 ypc).

The Black Cats have yielded 90 points over the last two weeks after opening the season with a 13-0 win over Scott City.

-- Jeff Breer