Players eager to hit someone new

~ All six local teams will participate in a jamboree today

Chaffee senior Nathan Cicardi waited 10 months for today.

"I've been waiting to hit someone with a different jersey since last year," he said. "It will be fun."

Today marks the first Friday of high school football action as the six local teams head in different directions for jamborees. The Red Devils are hosting a jamboree with Malden, Charleston and Fredericktown this year. Action in Chaffee begins at 6 p.m.

"The main thing is get some game experience against different speeds," Chaffee coach Charlie Vickery said. "We can't simulate going against Malden and Charleston. We can't simulate that in practice. That's going to open our eyes up a little bit."

Central and Jackson will travel to Farmington but will play in separate pairings. Central will face Cardinals Ritter, Poplar Bluff and St. Clair at 6 p.m. Jackson will line up against Farmington, Seckman and Union at 7:30 p.m.

Scott City will see its first action under new coach Jim May, who coached at Perryville last season. The Rams will head to Dexter to face the Bearcats, Kennett and Portageville, with action starting at 6 p.m. He said he's eager to see how his players react in game conditions.

"I want to see who has competitive fire in them, who's willing to lay it on the line and compete," May said. "Everybody ratchets it up. You're tired of hitting each other right now. You hope no one gets hurt, especially us this year. We can't afford it. But you want to find out who's really going to come out and stick their nose in there.

"Some kids you watch them in practice and you think maybe they're not giving you their all. But when the lights come on, they take it to another level."

While May will keep a close eye on his players' intensity during today's jamboree, he thinks the preseason scrimmage has become less important after the season was moved back a week last year so another week of the playoffs could be added.

"The way that the season moved back last year and we have less and less time, I think the jamboree has less and less value," he said. "When you had another week, now it seems like we're trying to get ready for the jamboree instead of get ready for the season. I don't know that I really like that. Now when you had that additional week, then you really got tired of being at practice. You're ready to see someone else. But with such a little amount of time, nine days, and when you're taking over a new program, it's tough. I would almost rather have another day of practice."

His players would prefer the jamboree to another day of practice.

"You get to hit other teams and finally go full tilt," Scott City senior Ben De Los Santos said.

And even though it won't be practice, the Scott City players still plan to work on certain aspects of their game.

"I'm mainly going to work on linebacking," junior Wade Keesee said. "I'm going to try to block some balls, watch for passes, try to get interceptions and get all the tackles I can. Whatever I mess up on, we'll have film on it."

Perryville, under first-year coach Keith Winkler, will travel to Sikeston for a 6 p.m. start against Sikeston, East Prairie and New Madrid. Winkler finds himself in a similar position as May. He replaced May at Perryville after nine years at St. Vincent.

"We're trying to get to know the kids and what they can do," Winkler said. "It's going to be something that we're really going to use jamboree for is as an evaluation tool. There's still some jobs to be won out there, and lost."

St. Vincent will see its first action under Paul Sauer, who returns to the Indians sideline for the first time since 1999. Sauer will take his team to Crystal City for a 6 p.m. start.