Road loss wraps up Jackson's schedule

ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- The Jackson Indians controlled half of their playoff fate entering Friday's district finale at Francis Howell High School.

But in a dreadful first half that proved fatal, the Indians controlled little and suffered a 43-34 loss to the Vikings.

The loss ended the season for Jackson (4-5, 1-2 district), which needed to win in combination with a Parkway Central victory to become Class 5, District 1 champ. Parkway Central, which the Indians beat in the opening week of the district, defeated Parkway West 28-10 and captured the title.

The Indians saw little go right in a first half that ended with Howell ahead 29-6. Jackson had two punt snaps sail over punter Joel Penrod's head deep in its own end and had only two first downs.

Howell (7-3, 2-1) started six of its seven first-half possessions in Jackson territory, leading to four touchdowns.

Jackson mounted 75 yards of offense in the half with 72 coming on a scoring pass from quarterback Tyler Profilet to Derek Miller. The play, with 47 seconds left in the first quarter, brought the Indians to within 7-6.

Miller finished with 11 catches for 263 yards and four touchdowns

Nick Pope, who scored Howell's first touchdown on a 21-yard run, added a 10-yard scoring run on the next possession. Mark Watson increased the lead to 21-7 on a keeper.

Jackson's next two possessions each ended with a bad punt snap. The first resulted in a touchdown by Jeff Sargent, and the second resulted in a safety and a 29-6 lead.

Howell went up 36-6 in the second half before Jackson made it 43-34 on a Miller reception with 2:03 to play.