St. Charles (1-2) at Central (0-3)

Last week: Blytheville 45, Central 6; Washington 56, St. Charles 6.

Last year's meeting: Central 24, St. Charles 6.

Notes: After the Tigers had a dismal first two weeks of the season in which they were outscored 117-23, Central coach Lawrence Brookins emphasized the need for quarterback Chase Johnson not to turn the ball over as much. Johnson had tossed one interception and lost two fumbles in Week 2 against New Madrid County Central. Johnson responded with a nice Week 3 against Blytheville, Ark., in which he went 18-of-29 for 157 yards. And he did just fine holding onto the football. Still, Central lost big 45-6. ... The problem with the offense this time was the lack of an effective running game. The Tigers' ground attack produced just 2.5 yards per carry. ... Tailback Derek Walker needs to play better. He only ran for 44 yards. ... Johnson carried the football 17 times for 34 yards. Johnson said after the game that both the passing and running games need to click for the Central offense to produce and put points on the scoreboard. ... The defense will need to do a better job stopping the opposition's run. Blytheville rushed 44 times for 385 yards last week. ... The defense might be struggling to stop the ground attack because of lack of experience. Some key members of the Tigers' defense are still in the process of getting used to varsity football and learning the Tigers' system, such as Rickien Russell and Landon Ewers, who are new to the defensive line, and Shawn Hammock, who recently took over at nose guard. ... St. Charles is also a team that's struggling. After a win in Week 1, the Pirates have been outscored 97-18 in the past two games.