JAMBOREES GIVE FANS, COACHES A GLIMPSE

High school football coaches will finally get a look at how their players stack up against other teams tonight when jamboree scrimmages will be held across the state.

Though the jamorees -- which usually consist of four teams -- are meaningless in terms of win-loss records, many coaches will polish off their starting units and depth charts based on individual performances.

"We want to play well, play hard and play with minimal mistakes, but the biggest thing is we want to give a lot of people playing time," said Jackson coach Carl Gross. "Then we have to sit down and talk about playing time and depth charts. The guys who play the best (tonight) will start against Sikeston (next Friday)."

Jackson, Cape Central and Perryville will join host St. Vincent at 6 p.m. The jamboree was originally slated to be played at Houck Stadium, but there was a scheduling conflict and it ended up being moved to St. Vincent, the host team last year.

Chaffee will join Kennett and Caruthersville at Hayti at 6:30; Fredericktown, Scott City and Portageville will travel to Dexter to play at 7 p.m.; Charleston will play against Malden at Poplar Bluff at 7 p.m. and Sikeston will join East Prairie and Jennings at New Madrid County Central at 7 p.m.

Each team will run 12 consecutive plays of offense and 12 plays of defense against every other team in the jamboree.

"We've got an idea of who will be the main guys and we'll get them some work and see if they're in game shape and see how they play against other teams' No. 1 players," said Scott City coach Stephen O'Brien. "We got two or three guys who've been working hard on the line and we'll give them a look. We're also looking at the quarterback position."

For Perryville fans, it will be their first opportunity to see the Pirates' new-look offense.

"I don't think we'll show it all, but we want to show some things and give Waynesville some things to think about," said Perryville coach Lance Bell. "I just want to see and be sure that the kids are ready. We'll try to get the first string the most reps and look at some number twos. Not all the positions are set, particularly in the interior line. There's quite a few kids vying for those spots. Whoever plays better will probably get the nod in the first game."

First-year St. Vincent coach Keith Winkler is anxious to see how his team performs. Last year, St. Vincent played every bit as well as the much larger schools in the jamboree.

"We're getting mentally tired of hitting each other," Winkler said. "Honestly, I don't know where we're at. One day, the offense is way ahead of the defense and the next day, the defense will dominate (in scrimmages). (Tonight) will show us a lot. We're still having some battles for spots."

Fredericktown coach Kent Gibbs said he will be looking more at his subs than his starters.

"I don't really go into these things to come out on top," said Gibbs. "I want to look at the basic executions. You may do things as a coach in these things you wouldn't normally do."