OPENING WEEK OF DISTRICTS EXCITING, BUT FOLLOWS SCRIPT

The first night of district gridiron action didn't provide any shocking upsets around the area Friday night.

In fact, things went pretty much as expected with several teams picking up the maximum 13-points in the district scoring format. Of the 12 district contests with local relevance, only two ended with a margin of victory less than 13 points.

One of those games was played in Class 5A, District 1. The Poplar Bluff Mules rallied at home from an 18-7 second half deficit to defeat the Sikeston Bulldogs 35-25. Poplar Bluff won its third straight game to improve to 5-3 and 1-0 in the district and SEMO North Conference. Sikeston fell to 3-4 and 0-1.

Poplar Bluff tailback Jeric Blackmon scored three times, but quarterback Andy Cisne provided most of the offensive yardage with 259 yards passing. Cisne completed 16-of-24 passes with no interceptions and also scored on a 10-yard bootleg.

Sikeston tailback Mark Blissett bounced back from a rough game the week before against New Madrid to rush for 228 yards and three TDs on 34 carries.

With the Mules leading 28-25 and 2:36 left in the game, Sikeston attempted to tie the score with a 34-yard field goal. But the kick fell just short and on the next play Blackmon broke free for an 80-yard TD run to seal the outcome. Blackmon, playing in just his third game of the year, finished with 157 yards on 16 carries.

Bluff hosts Cape Central (6-2, 0-1) Friday and Sikeston will be at home against Jackson (8-0, 1-0). Jackson beat Central 33-13 at Houck Field on Friday.

Parochial power

It looks like the Class 1A, District 1 title will be decided Friday night when the St. Vincent Indians host the state-ranked Valle Warriors in Perryville.

Defending district champs St. Vincent (6-2, 1-0) pounded Hayti on the road 47-0 Friday night, while Valle (6-2, 1-0) slipped past Chaffee 35-16 at Ste. Genevieve.

Valle, ranked third in 1A, has struggled with injuries the last two weeks and for the second week in a row struggled to beat a team with only one victory.

After a scoreless first quarter, Chaffee (1-6, 0-1) actually took the lead on a 56-yard scoring pass from Matt Graham to Jamey Dumey. Graham's two-point pass to Jeremy Vandeven put the Red Devils ahead 8-0. Graham completed 11-of-20 passes for 186 yards and an interception. Dumey caught four passes for 107 yards.

Valle tied the score on its next drive and with a little over a minute left until halftime it appeared the score would remain 8-8. But facing a fourth-and-three situation at his own 45-yard-line, Chaffee coach Brian Horrell tried a fake punt that came inches short.

"I thought it would be best to keep the ball in our hands because Valle's offense is so explosive," Horrell said. "The gamble was worth a try, but it came up just inches short."

The Warriors took over on downs and three pass completions later were in the end zone for a 15-7 halftime lead.

"We played Valle extremely tough," Horrell said. "If we make the fake punt maybe its a different ball game. It was another one of those frustrating ball games for us."

Valle opened up a comfortable lead in the second half before Nick Swinford scored for the Red Devils on a short run. He also added the two-point conversion.

St. Vincent had little trouble with Hayti, rolling up nearly 300 yards of offense in the shutout win.

Chad Winkler led the St. Vincent runners with 81 yards on only five carries. He also scored once. Bryan Meyer returned from an injury to score two TDs. Jeremy Best also scored.

Hayti suffered seven turnovers, including a fumble on the first play of the game returned by Aaron Unterreiner for a touchdown. St. Vincent recovered four fumbles and intercepted three passes.

Chaffee travels to Hayti on Friday in a game pitting two teams yet to taste victory on the field. Both earned forfeit victories over Malden after getting beat by the Green Wave.