TIGER CLAWS LOOK SHARP; TUCKER WINS PIRATE DEBUT

For starters, the Cape Girardeau Central Tigers couldn't have asked for a better way to begin the 1997 football season Friday with their 34-0 shutout at Farmington.

The Tigers displayed big-play potential on offense and a swarming defense in a virtual duplication of last year's 30-7 opening-season win over the Knights at Houck Field.

"I know we scored 34 points, but our defense got better as the game went on," said Central coach Jerry Dement. "They really flew to the football well. We were very physical for the first ball game."

Central intercepted three pass and linebacker Tatum Kitchen gathered 16 unassisted tackles. Ross Bennett, Steven Criddle and Demarco Williams had the interceptions.

The offense rolled up 455 total yards, with 320 coming on the ground. Kitchen led the running attack with 122 yards on 11 carries. Justin Blackmon scored twice -- on runs of 41 and 22 yards -- and gained 120 yards on 17 attempts.

Junior quarterback Frank McGinty, making his first varsity start, connected on nine of 13 passes for 135 yards and two touchdowns

"McGinty did a good job," Dement said. "He put the ball on the money all night and showed better mobility than what we expected."

McGinty also showed poise in the pocket, checking off his initial receiver to find second receiver Gabe Wunderlich for a 45-yard touchdown that made the score 20-0 in the third quarter. Ross Bennett caught McGinty's first touchdown pass for 27 yards in the second quarter that gave the Tigers a 7-0 halftime lead.

Emmanuel Harris completed the scoring with a 61-yard run in the final minute of the game. Harris totalled 81 yards on the ground.

Off on the right foot

First-year Perryville coach Jerry Tucker had a grand opening in front of the home crowd Friday with the Pirates 28-13 win against Fredericktown.

"I always feel pressure," Tucker said concerning his first game in front of the Perryville crowd. "But it wasn't because of my first game here. I always worry about winning the first game."

Perryville's Ben Kohm relieved a lot of Tucker's anxiety by scoring on touchdown runs of 25, 8 and 30 yards as the Pirates opened up a 28-0 lead by halftime. Josh Moll added a three-yard run and kicked all four extra points to account for the other scoring.

"We ran the ball effectively off tackle," said Tucker. "We were a little bigger and stronger then (Fredericktown) was. Our line did a real nice job both on offense and defense."

Fredericktown responded in the second half with two touchdown runs, but were unable to get closer. Andy Clark scored on a 7-yard run and Jeremy Penwell added a 25-yard score. Penwell finished with 140 yards on 20 carries.