Scott City football faces big district game

The Scott City football team has shown it can move the football.

But during a 3-5 campaign, it hasn't always turned that movement into points.

"We have trouble finishing," Scott City coach Terry Flannigan said Saturday.

The Rams finished just enough Friday night to beat host Grandview 20-19 in the first round of play for Class 2 District 2.

"We didn't play very well, but if you get a win by one or 100, it doesn't matter," Flannigan said.

Actually, it matters some in the district points system, but the Rams can take a big step toward a district crown this week at Crystal City (6-2), which shocked Charleston 14-8 on Friday.

"They've got the upper hand in the district," Flannigan said. "We've got to try to take it away from them, which will not be an easy task.

"They're a pretty good ballclub. They've got some speed. They don't do a whole lot, but what they do, they do right.

"It's going to be ground game against ground game," Flannigan said. "It depends what team shows up for us."

Crystal City is led by Cody Derousse, who has 740 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns.

Scott City's rushing attack was led Friday by sophomore Cody Carlyle, who ran for 146 yards on 21 carries. He has 622 yards for the season, while Chris Blankenship has more than 300 yards and Johnathan Barr had more than 400 yards before his injury a few weeks back.

Carlyle scored a touchdown and Jamie Pinkston had the winning two-point conversion run with a little more than a minute left Friday to lift the Rams. After a Grandview touchdown, Cody Schlosser was credited with a 66-yard kickoff return -- Scott CIty used a fake reverse -- to the Eagles' 5-yard line. Two plays later, Carlyle scored. Pinkston ran for Scott City's only successful conversion of the night.

Pinkston then intercepted a pass on Grandview's next drive to preserve the win.

As for which version of the Rams will show up this week, Flannigan saw two sides of the coin Friday.

"Our defense played really well in the first half," he said. "In the first half, they had 36 yards of total offense, but they finished with 190. We went back to not tackling and not running the football.

"We had eight of our 12 penalties in the second half. Crucial ones, too. Facemasks ... a touchdown run came back because of a hold."

Young runners

The Jackson boys cross country team that finished sixth in the Class 4 District 1 meet Saturday -- and failed to qualify for this week's sectional meet -- had four freshmen in the seven-person lineup.

"We had to fill in with some JV people," Jackson coach Andrea Talley said. "We were very young. They'll be good in a couple of years. At least we got sixth, and they were happy with that. Next year, they'll be a lot higher."

One of those freshmen, Greg Gibson, finished sixth overall to lead the Indians and qualified individually for the sectional.

Good sports

Inspired by a summer sportsmanship summit, Jackson this year has a Pride of the Tribe sportsmanship program. The school is selecting one opponent in each sport to be honored for its sportsmanship.

The cross country team selected Central and presented the plaque during the district meet Saturday.

"That was kind of cool," Talley said. "They picked Central unanimously."