JACKSON FAILS TO BAIL OUT CENTRAL

JACKSON -- Snug in the bracing chill beneath a black Nike toboggan, propped up with the aid of crutches, Jackson High's offense watched Friday night's football game against Vianney from the sidelines.

His left leg wrapped in a brace, there was nothing Todd Wessel could do as Jackson was trounced 35-0 in a Class 5A, District 1 game, its final contest of the season. Both teams had already been eliminated from contention in the district but Jackson squandered a chance to wrap up the campaign on a high note and with a .500 record.

Jackson and Vianney both posted marks of 4-6.

"We just got physically beat tonight," said Jackson coach Carl Gross. "We really missed Todd Wessel. He's the gamebreaker; he rushed for over 1,300 yards in six and a half games.

"We could never get the crowd in the game, we could never get us in the game," he continued. "I hate this for our seniors. These guys have been on some really good football teams. I just hate for it to end this way for them."

Even without Wessel, a senior running back who suffered torn knee ligaments during last week's loss to Cape Girardeau Central, Gross said he was surprised that his team mustered nothing.

"I expected us to score," he said. "We didn't come in here just wanting to play 48 minutes and get it over and go home.

"It's a very helpless feeling. I got the kids on the sideline and I said, `OK guys, you've got to tell me what to run.' And I got no response. I was just kind of at my wit's end."

After a scoreless first quarter, a 1-yard burst from David Wucher capped Vianney's 11-play, 66-yard drive early in the second quarter. Seven and a half minutes later, Wucher scored again, this time on a 14-yard blast up the middle of the field.

Midway through the third quarter, Vianney quarterback Sal Frisella kept the ball and raced it 37 yards for a score. The Golden Griffins then got another long TD run from Dan Schou with 8:14 remaining in the game, this one of 46 yards.

And finally, to add insult to injury, on the game's final play Vianney's Chris Natsch intercepted a pass from Jackson quarterback Andy Callis and scooted 42 yards to the endzone.

Vianney coach Gene Gladstone said his team thrived on "our offensive execution; the way we were able to control the football, the way we made good decisions in the option game."

Jackson amassed 198 yards of total offense. Callis completed 14 of 30 passing attempts for 128 yards; Harith Jones caught six passes for 63 yards and Tory Meyr grabbed five for 65 yards. Chris Freeman rushed 12 times for 43 yards.