High school football capsules: Week 9

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to say that Kelly played Portageville in Week 8.

Perryville (4-4) at Scott City (3-5)

Last week: Perryville 35, Windsor 14; Red Bud (Ill.) 51, Scott City 28

Last year: Scott City 28, Perryville 13

Outlook: It's the final week before district play begins, and the Perryville Pirates are in a position they haven't been for years.

The Pirates are coming off their first conference victory since the 2012 season that not only pulled them back to .500 at 4-4 but ensured their best record in coach Mike Wojtczuk's five seasons as head coach.

Tonight, the Pirates can ensure their first non-losing season since a 5-5 campaign in 2006. They also could move as high as No. 4 in the tight Class 4 District 1 standings, which would mean hosting a first-round game. That would be quite a climb, considering the Pirates were No. 8 entering last week's action. They vaulted Festus and De Soto after last week's win, and it's possible they could get past No. 5 Farmington and No. 4 North County this week. Farmington faces Class 3 power Park Hills Central, while North County faces a Fredericktown team that is coming off its first win of the season but played numerous team's close, including Perryville.

"If we get a big win [tonight] and get some help from some other teams, there's an outside shot that we could even end up with a home game," Wojtczuk said. "That's one of the things we've been talking about all week in practice and what the kids are excited about. That was one of our big goals this year was to try to get a winning season and try to get a home game for that first round of districts. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot there for a couple weeks, but the kids bounced back and been real resilient."

There's a different feel to the Pirates' Week 9 game this time around than the previous two years, where Perryville opened the seasons 2-0 and then went winless the remainder of the season.

"Our kids believe they've got a chance," Wojtczuk said. "It's not a deal where the coaches are having to rah-rah and motivate them. They're self-motivated and they're coming to work every day and get better every day, and that's all we can ask for."

The Pirates also are back to nearly full strength after losing a couple linemen and running backs Kyle Creason, Blake Mattingly and Derek Kirn at times during a mid-season lull that included consecutive losses to state-ranked Affton, Potosi and Ste. Genevieve.

"Last week we were pretty beat up, but I think we're going to have everybody back this week," Wojtczuk said. "This will be the first time in a couple weeks that we've been healthy. We were down to our last running back against Ste. Genevieve."

Mattingly, a senior, leads the team with 442 yards rushing, with junior quarterback Brandon Renaud is second at 390. The Pirates' top receiver is 6-foot-3 senior Connor Stark with 378 yards.

The Rams are led by junior Braden Cox, who has taken over the quarterback duties full time after junior Ty Wilthong sustained a season-ending leg injury in Week 7. Cox, who previously served in multiple duties on offense, rushed 28 times for 212 yards last week to increase his season total to 550 yards. Senior Nick Bickings added 79 yards on eight carries to increase his season total to 550.

The Rams, on a three-game skid and currently No. 6 in Class 2 District 1, can match their win total from last season with a win tonight.

"Like I told our kids in practice this week, they have just as much to play for as we do," Wojtczuk said. "Don't think for a minute ... they're sitting at 3-5 and we're sitting at 4-4.' I said, 'Guys they've got one more loss than we do, and they're hungry to get a win and they're trying to improve their district standing,' and I said, 'You have to come out and be firing on all cylinders and be consistent , compete, and we have to finish.'"

Class 2 District 1 standings -- 1. Malden (8-0, 49.80), 2. Caruthersville (5-3, 40.11), 3. Portageville (5-3, 36.20), 4. Hayti (5-2, 35.18), 5. East Prairie (5-3, 32.56), 6. Scott City (3-5, 28.97); 7. Kelly (2-6, 20.65); 8. Charleston (0-8, 17.71)

Class 4 District 1 standings -- 1. Hillsboro (6-2, 44.89), 2. Cape Central (4-4, 41.17), 3. Sikeston (6-2, 39.09), 4. North County (5-3, 32.07), 5. Farmington (3-5, 31.49), 6. Perryville (4-4, 30.92), 7. Festus (4-4, 29.66), 8. De Soto (4-4, 27.73)

Chaffee (2-6) at Kelly (2-6)

Last week: Jefferson 72, Chaffee 54; Portageville 64, Kelly 6

Last year: Kelly 48, Chaffee 18

Outlook: Entering the final week before district play, there is good news and bad news for the Red Devils.

The good news is the offense turned in its best game of the season, a 54-point effort against Jefferson in which the Red Devils rolled to 575 yards of offense. Freshman quarterback Landon Tenkhoff galloped for a career-high 214 yards on 34 carries and threw for 215 more on 15-of-29 passing. Tenkhoff upped his season totals to 1,027 rushing and 645 passing.

The bad news is the defense yielded 573 yards to Jefferson, and perhaps worse the Red Devils appear locked into the No. 7 spot in the eight-team district standings. The bottom two teams in the district will likely have unbeaten teams -- defending state champion Valle Catholic and Mark Twain -- awaiting them in the first round.

Kelly has been thumped by fellow Class 2 District 1 members Caruthersville and Portageville the past two weeks by a combined score of 122-6. The Hawks are locked into the No. 7 spot in the district standings and will face one of those two teams in the first round of district play.

Class 1 District 1 standings -- 1. Valle Catholic (8-0, 56.75), 2. Mark Twain (8-0, 56.02), 3. St. Vincent (4-4, 36.85), 4. Barat Academy (3-4, 35.53), 5. Crystal City (2-6, 31.79), 6. Monroe City (2-6, 31.76), 7. Chaffee (2-6, 27.89), 8. Louisiana (0-8, 22.54)

Riverview Gardens (0-8) at Cape Central (4-4)

Last week: Chaminade 49, Cape Central 14; Hazelwood East 61, Riverview Gardens 14

Last year: Cape Central 48, Riverview Gardens 8

Outlook: Cape Central is coming off its fourth loss of the season but its first one of a lopsided nature as it trailed Chaminade, ranked No. 6 in Class 5, by 28 points at halftime.

The Tigers look to be on the giving end this week against a winless team they routed by 40 points last season.

Central is second in its district standings and assured of hosting a first-round district game.

Sophomore Aaron Harris leads the Tigers with 815 yards rushing (6.0 ypc). Junior quarterback Kway'Chon Chisom follows with 587 yards (8.0), while senior Al Young has 518 (7.3 ypc). Young is by far the team's leading receiver with 581 yards, with 10 of his 21 catches going for TDs.

Jackson (4-4) at Miller Career Academy (5-3)

Last week: Jackson 49, Seckman 6; Gateway STEM 47, Miller Career Academy 0

Last year: Jackson 28, Miller Career Academy 14

Outlook: The object always is to win, but Jackson, locked into the No. 6 seed in Class 5 District 1, may be wanting to emerge relatively healthy for next week's district play after losing numerous players to injury this season.

"Last year at this point we lost a couple kids in this game," Jackson coach Brent Eckley said. "It makes us a little bit nervous, but that's how it goes."

Injuries have been tough on the Indians, especially on the line, claiming juniors Collin Nicks, Tyler Brinkopf and Bryce Dickerson for the season.

Junior Jesse Darrow stepped into the center duties after injuries to others and sustained a concussion last week. He will miss tonight's game.

"That will be our fourth lineman that we lost," Eckley said, noting the Indians will be playing their fourth center this season.

That said, Eckley doesn't want his team, which will face either No. 3 Poplar Bluff or No. 4 Vianney on the road next week in the first round of district, playing tentatively.

"You can't really play that way," Eckley said. "You have to let the kids go get it, and you've got to play hard."

The Indians are coming off a comfortable win over Seckman in which the quarterback shuffle continued to play out. Senior Landry Moore, making his fifth consecutive start, completed 4 of 6 passes for 43 yards with no TDs and one INT. It was his first game without a TD pass after completing 70 percent of his passes and 13 TDs in the previous four games. Sophomore Cooper Callis, the team's No. 1 quarterback in the preseason but sidelined until Week 7 due to a fractured elbow, saw his most extensive play this season against Seckman and responded well. He completed 12 of 16 passes for 160 yards and two TDs.

"He was very efficient with the ball," said Eckley, who added that he plans to continue to rotate the quarterbacks.

Junior running back Bryndan Reid had his second consecutive 100-yard rushing game with a season-high 154 yards and scored TDs on four of his nine carries. Reid has a team-high 643 yards (6.6 ypc) on the season. Senior receiver Jeremy Elliott fell 2 yards short of his sixth consecutive 100-yard receiving game, but two of his seven receptions went for TDs. He currently is on a run of at least two TD catches in each of the last five games, and he has 14 TDs on the season.

For the Phoenix, senior Nicholas Walker moved from running back to quarterback early in the season. He leads the team with 800 yards rushing (11.1 ypc) and has completed 55 percent of his 95 passes, according to stltoday.com. Jacquis Avant, a junior, is second with 663 yards rushing and has a team-high 24 receptions for 294 yards.

Class 5 District 1 standings -- 1. Fox (6-2, 43.79), 2. Rockwood Summit (6-2, 42.66), 3. Poplar Bluff 6-2 (41.10), 4. Vianney (5-3, 40.31), 5. Oakville (4-4, 37.86), , 6. Jackson (4-4, 31.41), 7. Parkway South (1-7, 23.93)

Jefferson (5-3) at St. Vincent (4-4)

Last week: Jefferson 72, Chaffee 54; St. Vincent 30, Grandview 20

Last year: St. Vincent 27, Jefferson 14

Outlook: St. Vincent pulled back to the .500 mark and moved up a spot in the district standings to No. 3 with last week's win over Grandview.

The Indians are in good position to host a first-round game in the Class 1 District 1 tournament.

St. Vincent has had problems stopping the run at times this season and will be tested by the Blue Jays, who rushed for 535 yards against Chaffee last week. Jefferson averaged 16.7 yards per rush attempt in the win, led by freshman Andrew Graves, who rushed for 328 yards on just 11 carries. Graves had TD runs of 39, 86, 57, 24 and 45 yards in the game. Graves leapfrogged his senior brother, Austin, for the team lead in rushing with 748 yards (14.7 ypc). Austin Graves, a four-year starter at quarterback, had 111 yards on 11 carries and has 667 yards (10 ypc) on the season.

It was the second straight week the Blue Jays eclipsed 500 yards rushing and the third time this season.

-- Jeff Breer