THE LATEST LINE: SCOTT CITY, ST. VINCENT CARRY AREA'S GRID HOPES

This was certainly not an overall great season for local high school football teams, but two squads -- Scott City and St. Vincent -- will attempt to keep the area's football flag waving tall Monday night.

Both the Rams and Indians will be involved in state quarterfinal matchups -- and both will have to succeed on the road if they are to continue on in the playoffs.

Scott City, which is 10-1 and ranked fourth in the final Class 2A state poll of the regular season, will be in St. Louis for a game with Lutheran North.

St. Vincent, which is 11-0 and is ranked third in Class 1A, will have a much longer journey. The Indians, on the road for the second straight playoff game, must travel all the way to Fair Grove, which is in the Springfield area.

But the good news for both the Rams and Indians is that, if they survive Monday's road tests, both have good chances of being at home for semifinal games Saturday. St. Vincent is assured of a home date with a quarterfinal win while Scott City would also be at home -- barring a huge upset loss by top-ranked Monroe City.

For the communities of Scott City and Perryville, that would really be exciting.

Let's hope those games materialize.

* This was certainly another down year for SEMO football as the Indians suffered their fourth straight losing season by going 3-8.

I'm not about to make excuses for the coaches and players on the squad. I don't think they would want me to. And the status of head coach John Mumford and his assistants, as far as their possible return next season, has to be shaky at best.

But I will say this, based on my dealings with all the SEMO coaches and players: Almost to a person, it's a class group. The players might not have been involved in a lot of victories, but after getting to know most of them, I have no doubt the vast majority will be major successes in their biggest game -- the game of life.

I know, college programs are judged on their record, and the Indians have certainly fallen short in that regard. But I can honestly say that this year's bunch, while maybe a bit short on talent, played with a lot of heart and determination in just about every game.

* Congratulations to KZIM's Brad Palmer, who won his second straight Southeast Missourian Media Grid Picks championship this year.

Hopefully all the area football players and coaches have as much fun with the friendly competition as we prognosticators do.

* Kudos to Cape Girardeau native Angela (James) Poindexter, the coach of the St. Charles West High School girls cross country team that won this year's Class 3A state title.

She's a Cape Central and SEMO graduate.

* Scott City native Scott Little, who spent this year as the Pittsburgh Pirates' major league field coordinator, has been named manager of the Pirates' Lynchburg team of the Carolina League.

Little has been a coach and manager in the Pirates' organization since 1991.

~Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian