JACKSON KICKERS REACH 4A DISTRICT TITLE GAME

Jackson advanced to Thursday's Class 4A, District 1 soccer championship game while Cape Central will be conspicuously absent.

Top-seeded Jackson advanced to Thursday's 6:30 p.m. title game with a 4-0 victory over No. 4 seed Sikeston on Tuesday. The Indians will face No. 3 seed Poplar Bluff, the tournament host, for the title. Poplar Bluff upset No. 2 seed Cape Central 4-1 in Tuesday's other semifinal.

Jackson, the defending district champion, improved to 19-4-2 with its fifth victory of the season over Sikeston.

Jackson built a 3-0 lead by halftime and was never threatened.

Chris Kohm opened the scoring off an assist from Raju Dirnberger. Spencer Knowlan added an unassisted goal and Tyler Stearns upped the lead to 3-0 off a pass from Kohm. Stearns completed the scoring with the second half's lone goal, depositing a pass from Noah Reese.

"You're always's glad to get through," said Jackson coach Bonnie Knowlan. "It's going to be a challenge for us playing down there and playing Bluff."

Cape Central (9-14-2) appeared headed for its eighth straight championship game with three victories over Poplar Bluff this season.

"I told the kids you can't take them lightly," said Central coach Tom Doyle. "The first half was real even and the second half it looked like they wanted it a little more than we did, and they got it."

After a scoreless first half, Poplar Bluff netted a goal two minutes into the second half. Cape Central's Arthur Pilsner answered a minute later to tie the score 1-1. Twenty-six minutes later Bluff took the lead for good, netting a goal off a scramble in front of the Tiger net.

The Tigers were forced to play more aggressively and Poplar Bluff netted two fastbreak goals in the final four minutes.