THE LATEST LINE: HIGH SCHOOL GRID SEASON WINDING DOWN

The high school football season is fast coming to a close, with just one regular-season game left.

For most of the area teams, that last contest will mark the end of their seasons. But for a select few, the playoffs will loom on the horizon.

Who's playoff bound from the immediate area?

The only team that has officially wrapped up a playoff spot is Perryville, which was mighty impressive in routing state-ranked Hillsboro 32-0 Friday night. The Pirates have clinched the Class 4A, District 1 title.

Perryville is having a sensational season under coach Jerry Tucker, going 8-1 so far. The Pirates will be in the playoffs for the first time since 1990.

Another Perryville school, St. Vincent, is a virtual lock in Class 1A, needing only to beat lowly Hayti.

Scott City and Charleston will tangle in a dandy 2A matchup to close out the regular season. The Rams have to rate as the favorite, but the Blue Jays can't be counted out.

Cape Central is also ever so close to making the 5A playoffs. The Tigers' impressive win over Jackson Friday night means they only need to beat Poplar Bluff to win their district. And even a loss could get the Tigers in, depending on the outcome of the Jackson-Vianney contest.

Fredericktown is also still in the running for a 3A district title.

Come next Friday, we'll see how it all shapes up.

* The so-called experts -- namely the Ohio Valley Conference's head coaches and sports information directors -- look for SEMO's basketball teams to have different kinds of 1998-99 seasons.

While the Indians are picked to finish in the top part of the OVC standings -- fifth -- the Otahkians are tabbed for eighth.

Of course, as we all know, preseason projections mean little. The Indians and Otahkians will both have a chance to prove themselves on the court this season.

SEMO fans can get a preview of the Otahkians today when they play Gold Star Gym from St. Louis in a 2 p.m. exhibition game at the Show Me Center.

The Indians will play their exhibition opener Thursday at 7:30 p.m. when the Dreambuilders come to Cape.

* While college basketball teams began practice a couple of weeks ago, area high school hoop squads get workouts under way Monday.

* Two of the nine people being inducted next weekend in the University of Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame have local ties.

Abe Stuber, who is deceased, served as SEMO's football coach from 1932-46, compiling an impressive 72-42-6 record. A Mizzou football star in the 1920s, the SEMO track and field complex is named after Stuber.

Ed Lampitt, who lives in Piedmont, was a standout wrestler at Mizzou in the 1960s. His parents, Ed and Gwen Lampitt, reside in Cape Girardeau.

* Former Cape Central standout runner Kristin Tallent is having a strong freshman season for the Mississippi State cross country team.

Entering this past weekend's Southeastern Conference Championships, Tallent had been the team's No. 4 runner in four of the Lady Bulldogs' meets so far this season.

~Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian