TIGER `D' DINES ON 9 CHICK TURNOVERS (PREP NOTES)

Friday's football game at Blytheville, Ark., was supposed to be the Cape Central Tigers toughest test of the 1997 season.

Give the Tigers an A+ for their 41-6 win over the Chickasaws (1-2).

"We were expecting a nail-biter with Blytheville," said Central coach Jerry Dement. "It was just our night. We stayed intense the whole ball game and were in the right place to make plays."

Central forced nine turnovers (six interceptions, three fumbles) in the rout and rolled up 370 yards of offense to improve to 3-0. Four different backs combined for 286 of the Tigers' 330 rushing yards.

"It was so hot and humid, we rotated our backs to keep their legs fresh and it paid off," Dement said. "Our conditioning was a big factor."

Justin Blackmon led the offense with 112 yards and two touchdown runs. Emmanuel Harris totalled 63 yards thanks largely to a 55-yard scoring run. Fullbacks Tatum Kitchen and Demarco Williams added 57 and 54 yards, respectively. Williams scored on a 24-yard run.

Ross Bennett led the defense with three interceptions and Tatum Kitchen led the Tigers in tackles again with 15. Kitchen has 46 tackles on the year.

"We played very physical on defense," Dement said. "Anytime you create nine turnovers, you're playing hard. It was an entire defensive effort."

Chris Allen added a 69-yard punt return and quarterback Frank McGinty scored on a 22-yard run. McGinty also completed 3-of-5 passes for 40 yards.

Deja vu?

The Tigers also opened last year 3-0 after pounding Blytheville 21-0 at home. The next week the Tigers lost to Marshall County (Ky.) 26-19 and went on to lose all three district games to end the year 6-4. This week's opponent will be Marshall County (3-1), coming off a blowout win.

By the numbers ...

* Including the freshmen and JV football teams, Cape Central's football program is a combined 8-0. The junior varsity Tigers are 2-0 and the freshmen 3-0.

* After three games, the Caruthersville Tigers (0-3) have yet to put a point on the scoreboard. Unfortunately for the Tigers, their opponents haven't had the same problem. Caruthersville has been outscored 75-0.