Teams on equal footing after seven weeks

Whether you love it or hate it, Missouri high school football's real season begins Friday with the start of district play.

After seven weeks of football, teams with 7-0 records are on the same playing field as teams with winless marks.

Central coach Lawrence Brookins said whether a team is hot or not, all teams look at district time like another season.

"Everyone in the state looks at it that way, whether things have been going their way all year or not," he said. "There will be a few surprises. Every year there's a few surprises."

While district play brings with it new challenges, that does not mean the first seven games are meaningless. Teams like Scott City, Jackson and St. Vincent built confidence with every win and were able to establish strong rushing attacks. For struggling teams such as Central, Perryville and Chaffee, the first seven games showed the teams what needs fixing and what may work.

"What you want to do is take some momentum into the playoffs," said Jackson coach Carl Gross, whose team is 6-1. "I think we were able to establish some momentum."

Three of the area's six schools will have different makeups to their district schedules. Jackson and Perryville have entirely new districts -- in Perryville's case an entirely new class as well -- and Central will face a new district team in West Plains.

Jackson, the only area Class 5 school, has a tough draw in its new district. Eureka (7-0) and Rockwood Summit (6-1) should present tough challenges for the Indians. Seckman is the lone district team with a losing record.

"We've got a monumental task in front of us," Gross said.

Central (1-6), Poplar Bluff (2-5), Sikeston (2-5) and West Plains (3-4) make up the new Class 4 District 1.

Brookins believes his team can win a fifth straight district title, but it must cut down on mistakes.

"We've reached the point in the season where coaches, athletes, media, parents and friends we cannot continue to talk about youth," Brookins said. "It's Week 8 now, youth's been served. Some of the mistakes we're making cannot be credited to youth."

Perryville (2-5) dropped from Central's district to Class 3 District 1 and will again face three opponents to its south. Dexter (4-3) has accomplished the most this season of the teams in the district, with New Madrid County Central and Kennett each having one win.

Scott City's district schedule remained the same this season, with Charleston (5-2), Grandview (2-5) and Crystal City (4-3) joining the Rams in Class 2 District 2. The Rams have the top record in the district at 6-1 and could be heading toward a district showdown with Charleston in the final week of the season.

The two area Class 1 schools are still lumped together, with St. Vincent (6-1) and Chaffee (0-7) joining Hayti (3-3) and Valle (6-1) in Class 1 District 1. Defending district champion St. Vincent enters district play this season the likely favorite, ranked sixth in the latest state poll. Valle also was in the top 10.