HIGH SCHOOL: JACKSON SHAKES SLUGGISH START IN 27-0 VICTORY

KIRKWOOD, Mo. -- Jackson High School's football team got off to a slow start Friday night, but that did little to prevent the Indians from rolling up another lopsided victory.

The Indians ran only five offensive plays and gained just nine total yards in the first quarter. They did not record their initial first down until more than 15 minutes had elapsed, that coming with a little more than eight minutes to play in the second period.

But a sensational punt return for a first-quarter touchdown by speedster Mario Whitney and two second-quarter TD passes by quarterback John Jackson helped stake Jackson to a 21-0 halftime lead and the Indians went on to knock off host Vianney 27-0 in the Class 5A, District 1 opener for both squads.

Jackson, the state's third-ranked Class 5A team, is now 8-0 after posting its second consecutive shutout. Vianney fell to 1-7.

"It wasn't pretty, but we'll certainly take the win, and this isn't an easy place to play," said Jackson coach Carl Gross. "I didn't want to oversell the game. We all knew that Vianney has been struggling. But each of us has to do a better job of getting mentally ready to play."

The Indians seemed to be lethargic much of the game and they were plagued by penalties. Jackson was hit with a total of six illegal motion penalties on two of its first-half drives, although the Indians were able to overcome them as they scored on both of those possessions.

All told, the Indians had 10 illegal motion penalties in the game and were penalized 15 times for 97 yards overall.

"We had a lot of mental mistakes, so many motion penalties," Gross said. "But we made enough big plays and defensively we pretty much shut them down. They really couldn't do much against us."

Whitney, despite his punt return for a touchdown, was bottled up in the first half by a Vianney defense intent on stopping one of the state's premier running backs. He gained just 17 yards on seven first-half attempts.

With Vianney concentrating on Whitney, the passing game was open and Jackson responded with first-half TD tosses to Pat McComas and Ray Goodson.

"Lately people have really been concentrating on stopping Mario and the passing has been there for us," said Gross. "John is getting better and better all the time."

But it's hard to contain Whitney for an entire game and the junior broke loose for a long touchdown run early in the second half. He rushed for 125 second-half yards and finished the contest with 142 yards on 14 attempts.

Whitney also had a 70-yard punt return for a touchdown in the first half called back by a penalty as Jackson was charged with having 12 players on the field.

After Vianney controlled much of the early play, the Indians finally got things going in the second quarter and they went on to dominate the final statistics.

Jackson finished with 366 yards of total offense (195 rushing, 171 passing) compared to just 150 for Vianney, and the Golden Griffins were held to just 33 second-half yards.

"We wanted the shutout pretty bad," said Jackson linebacker Mark Wade, who recovered a fumble late in the first quarter at his own 20-yard line that stopped Vianney's deepest penetration of the game. "Overall, we probably didn't get as motivated as we should have for this game, but it's still a good way to start districts."

Jackson passed for 152 yards in the first half and finished the contest 7-for-12 for 171 yards. Goodson had three receptions for 103 yards.

The Indians failed to pick up a first down on their opening possession of the game, but they never got to put their offense on the field the second time they touched the football.

After Vianney was stopped on its second drive of the contest, the Griffins got off a good punt, which Whitney fielded at his 17-yard line. Several broken tackles and faked-out defenders later, Whitney was in the end zone with an 83-yard return. Joey Beard kicked the first of three extra points and the Indians led 7-0 with 5:13 left in the opening period.

"I had a good three yards on the sideline," said a smiling Whitney when asked how he managed to stay in bounds when several Vianney defenders appeared to have good shots at him.

Of the Indians' performance in general, Whitney said, "I didn't think it was a good game for us. We had so many penalties."

Wade's fumble recovery killed Vianney's best march when the Griffins appeared poised to tie the contest late in the first quarter.

Two series later, the Indians put together their first real drive of the game and also gained their initial first down. Starting at their own 35, the Indians drove 65 yards in eight plays and overcame three illegal motion penalties.

A 41-yard pass from Jackson to Gary Jones and an 18-yard strike from Jackson to Goodson were the key plays of the drive that ended when, on fourth-and-three, Jackson hit McComas for an 8-yard touchdown. Beard's PAT made it 14-0 with 5:13 left before halftime.

The Indians tacked on one more score in the closing seconds of the first half as they drove 92 yards and once again overcame three illegal motion penalties.

A 68-yard Jackson pass to Goodson was the key play, and a 15-yard penalty on Vianney for roughing the passer also loomed large. With just 22.2 seconds remaining, Jackson hit Goodson for a 17-yard TD and Beard's PAT made it 21-0.

"Getting that last score late (in the first half) was big," Gross said.

The only scoring of the second half came with six minutes left in the third quarter as Whitney again shook off several would-be tacklers for a dazzling 77-yard touchdown scamper. Kicking from 35 yards out after a penalty, Beard missed the PAT.

All that was left was for the Indians to complete the shutout, which they did.