INDIANS, PANTHERS PIT 9-1 MARKS IN SECTIONAL

JACKSON -- Mehlville and Jackson have a lot in common.

They both can run and pass the ball effectively. Both have good defenses. Both are state-ranked at 9-1 and both are district champs.

And both teams' coaches have a lot of respect for the other.

The Indians, ranked No. 10 in the state and the eighth-ranked Panthers will put their similarities aside when they clash tonight at 7 in a sectional game at Jackson Stadium.

Said Mehlville coach Gary Heyde of Jackson: "They're a real good, sound and fundamental football team as always. They have a good line and a fast tailback. They mix it up with a good passing game."Jackson coach Carl Gross offered these remarks about Mehlville: "They have a fabulous quarterback and two fabulous receivers and a good running back and fullback. They're just a good football team."Well, what would one expect in the state playoffs.

Jackson would be considered an underdog in this game, but a win doesn't appear to be out of the question."We have a chance of winning it, but this will be our biggest challenge of the year and our kids have responded and played well when challenges have come up all year long," Gross said. "We expect them to play well (tonight)."We're going to have to play a perfect game. We have to block them and tackle them and you have to be where you're supposed to be when you're supposed to be there. If you don't, they will exploit it."Gross learned that while scouting Mehlville in its 35-10 victory over then-No. 3 Kirkwood last Friday night.

In that game, Kirkwood turned the ball over six times."I didn't expect to win by that much," Heyde said. "They were a good football team that happened to make a lot of mistakes. We were able to capitalize on them." "From listening to everybody from St. Louis, Kirkwood was so good and Kirkwood was bigger but Mehlville was so much quicker and faster," Gross said. "Kirkwood's biggest play was a fake punt and that was basically it. Mehlville simply shut them down."Mehlville's only loss this season came to Columbia Hickman, a 24-22 setback, in Week 3.

Some of its wins include a 24-6 victory over Christian Brothers College and a 17-10 win over Jefferson City Helias, a dominant team in Class 4A.The Panthers are led offensively by quarterback Scott Houska.

Houska (5-foot-11, 158 pounds) has completed 37 of 62 passes for 784 yards and six touchdowns. He has thrown just one interception. He has also ran the ball 71 times for 350 yards this season. The quarterback also does the kicking and punting."They can throw, they run the option and they have an effective power game," Gross said. "They're multidimensional. I'm not sure that they're not better on defense than they are on offense. They can open it up offensively and aren't afraid to take chances because they're not concerned about people scoring on them. That makes them even more potent. They did a super job in all three phases. We really did not see a weakness."Mehlville's top running threat is Harlan Futrell who has rushed for 757 yards on 126 attempts this season.

Perhaps the most impressive stat about Mehlville is that it has intercepted 16 passes in 10 games, while its starting quarterback has been picked off just once.

Heyde said the interceptions don't necessarily come from a strong secondary, but from a strong defensive line."We've actually have had two defensive linemen run back two interceptions for touchdowns," Heyde said. "We put a lot of pressure on the quarterback. That's probably contributed more to the interceptions than anything."Pressure is something that Jackson quarterback Chris Stockton hasn't seen much of this season. And when he has been chased out of the pocket, he has shown the ability to escape and make big plays on the run.

But Heyde doesn't expect to get as much pressure up front against Jackson as he has other teams."They use a lot of maximum protection schemes and they run one or two-man patterns," said the Mehlville coach. "They put a high priority on protecting the quarterback. It's hard to rush with eight or nine people protecting."Jackson has the luxury of using one- and two-man patterns because it has the best receiver in Southeast Missouri in Tory Meyr. Meyr has caught 41 passes for 760 yards this year."It's hard to say (why he's so successful)," Heyde said. "I've watched the film. He looks like a real nice receiver and he's going to give a nice challenge to our defensive backs. We'll have to do a good job covering him."