PANTHERS POUNCE ON INDIANS 49-7

JACKSON -- Jackson coach Carl Gross wasn't kidding when he said Mehlville didn't have any weaknesses.

Mehlville dominated the Indians in every facet of the game Wednesday as the best Class 5A school in Southeast Missouri succumbed to the St. Louis power 49-7 in a sectional game at Jackson Stadium."I told you that they had no weaknesses," said Gross. "You point out a weakness. They put you on a long field all the time. They can take chances on their offense because their defense is so tough. They're a good football team. They did the same thing to Kirkwood last week."We played hard. We left everything on the field. We just got beat by a better football team."Mehlville racked up 288 rushing yards and 137 yards through the air and put the 35-point mercy rule into effect in the third quarter.

The Panthers, ranked No. 8 in the latest state poll, simply had better athletes. They were faster, bigger and more physical on the line of scrimmage, and did an excellent job at blocking in the open field.

The only position where Jackson had an advantage was at wide receiver.

Tory Merry finished his high school football career with one of his best games. Against the toughest coverage he had faced all season, Meyr caught five passes for 90 yards. He also drew two interference calls. Meyr was open on several other occasions but quarterback Chris Stockton was often forced to throw the ball early."He's a fabulous player," Gross said of Meyr. "A fabulous kid and a great student. They don't make them any better than Tory Meyr."Harian Futrell led the offensive attack for Mehlville with 125 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries.

Quarterback Scott Houska also had an impressive game, completing 5 of 7 passes for 137 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Despite the lopsided loss, Gross had nothing but good things to say about his team."There's no way I'm going to let this blemish what our kids accomplished," Gross said. "We've come a million miles in a year and I'm very proud of the leadership that our senior class showed. They're going to be extremely hard to replace on the field and off."Last year, Jackson went 4-6 and it was not expected, at the beginning of the year, to go 9-1 and win the district.

The only Jackson score came in the first quarter when sophomore running back Mario Whitney bounced off two tacklers, took it around the right end and made a cut back to the middle for a flashy 44-yard scoring scamper. Whitney, who often had three or four defenders chasing him in the backfield, managed 71 yards on 16 carries, but was held to no yards or less seven times.

Jackson got out to a promising start.

Futrell fumbled the ball on the Panthers' first offensive play of the game, but Stockton threw an interception two plays later.

Mehlville drove the ball at will on the ensuing possession and the outcome seemed ominous when Futrell capped the drive with a 3-yard run.

On the first play of its next possession, Futrell hit wide-open wide receiver Ura Clerk down the left sideline for a 32-yard score.

The Panthers went up 21-0 on a 14-yard touchdown run by Terrell Jones with 3:13 left in the first quarter.

Whitney's touchdown run temporarily sparked life into the Indians, but the high-powered Mehlville offense -- which featured top-notch athletes coming from all directions -- answered with a 71-yard drive and another 3-yard touchdown run by Futrell which made it 28-7 which is where the score stood at halftime.

Mehlville picked up where it left off in the second half.

Houska dropped another perfect 32-yard touchdown pass over the right shoulder of Clerk to put Mehlville ahead 28-7.

A 5-yard touchdown run by Futrell with 7:59 left in the third quarter put the mercy rule into effect and the scoring was capped off when Jarvis Williams scored from 41 yards out.