ST. VINCENT ENCOUNTERS BIG JEFFERSON COUNTY TEST AGAINST ST. PIUS

After dropping three spots to No. 4 two weeks ago, St. Vincent moved back up to the No. 2 spot in the state's Class 1A media poll this week after posting a 31-0 win over Crystal City.

But the Indians (4-1) will face a tough test tonight in St. Pius (4-1).

St. Vincent's only loss of the season was to Herculaneum two weeks ago, a 20-14 setback.

St. Pius beat Herculaneum last week 31-19.

St. Pius' only loss came to St. Charles-Duschesne, a 14-8 setback in the season opener. Duschesne is the ninth-ranked team in Class 3A and is 5-0.

Caruthersville at Scott City

After playing some tough games early -- Malden and Perryville, in particular -- the Rams will be favored to run the table for the rest of the regular season.

Starting with Chaffee last week, the Rams' final six regular-season opponents sport a cumulative record of 9-21. None of them have a winning record.

Scott City is 4-1 and has outscored its last four opponents 148-6.

Caruthersville is 1-4 with its only win coming out of state against Ripley, Tenn. Last week, Caruthersville was stomped 55-7 by New Madrid County Central, the No. 10 Class 3A team in the state and one of the best teams in Southeast Missouri.

Chaffee at East Prairie

Chaffee proved last week that it has come a long way from last year by playing Scott City relatively close for three quarters.

This week, if the Red Devils want to continue their status as a team on the upswing, Chaffee wants anything but close.

Chaffee (2-3), will likely improve to 3-3 tonight when it plays at East Prairie, probably the weakest team in this part of the state.

The closest game that East Prairie has been in this year was a 33-6 loss to Hayti in Week 1. East Prairie hasn't scored since and has been outscored 208-6 on the season. Last year, East Prairie defeated Chaffee 27-14.

Chaffee, meanwhile, is coming off a 28-0 loss to Scott City, a game which was just 7-0 at halftime. Chaffee lost to Scott City 41-0 in 1998.

East Prairie lost to Dexter (3-2) 46-0 last week.

Festus at Perryville

Festus comes into this game with a 3-2 record, though its wins have come over some weak teams..

Festus beat Potosi 32-6, De Soto 42-7 and St. Dominic 46-20. The Tigers lost to St. Francis-Borgia -- the No. 3 team in Class 3A -- 41-8 and are coming off a 24-21 loss to Windsor.

Perryville is coming off a 40-7 win over Brentwood, the Pirates' first win of the season.

The Pirates are looking for some momentum heading into district play after losing their first four games all by less than 19 points.

Potosi at Fredericktown

The Black Cats are 3-2 and have posted some historical wins this season, beating Ste. Genevieve for the first time in 16 years and Valle of Ste. Gen. for the first time in 20.

But Fredericktown has yet to win back-to-back games this season.

Fredericktown should have a good chance to reverse that trend against Potosi (1-4).

The two teams have one common opponent, that being Valle.

Fredericktown defeated Valle 41-20 last week, while Potosi defeated the same team 13-12 two weeks ago.

Columbia Hickman at Poplar Bluff

The Mules, coming off an unbelievable, come-from-behind, 51-50 win over Springfield Kickapoo a week ago could make a case that it belongs in the state's top 10 poll when it faces Columbia Hickman.

Hickman, which was ranked in the top 10 before losing its last two games, will be looking to stop its losing streak.

Poplar Bluff quarterback Stan Revelle had a career game last week, completing 24 of 34 passes for more than 400 yards. Receiver Rejeran George caught 10 passes for 207 yards.

New Madrid County Central at St. Francis-Borgia

Finally, it looks like the Eagles will get some competition.

New Madrid, 10th ranked in the state and clearly the top Class 3A team in this region, will take on St. Francis-Borgia, the third-ranked team in Class 3A.

Ricky Smith, the leading scorer in Southeast Missouri with 20 touchdowns in five games, has rushed for 772 yards this season despite not playing much in the second half of most games.

New Madrid has outscored its opponents 221-48 this season despite having as many as eight sophomores who start.