Week 9: High school football preview capsules

Francis Howell Central (1-7) at Jackson (5-2)

Last week: Francis Howell 55, Francis Howell Central 17; Hickman 27, Jackson 14

Last year: Did not play

Outlook: The last time Jackson was seen on its home field it was beating up on Poplar Bluff and improving to 4-0. That was more than a month ago.

A few things have changed for the Indians, who have had three road games and an open week since.

They return with a two-game losing streak -- against unbeatens Sikeston and Hickman -- and a new starting quarterback in sophomore Dante Vandeven.

Junior Ty Selsor, who had completed 59 percent of his passes but had an equal numbers of touchdowns and interceptions -- nine -- has been moved out to play some receiver and will appear at quarterback on occasions. He also starts on defense.

Vandeven made his first varsity start last week when Jackson was able to hang with state-ranked Class 6 Hickman into the third quarter. That's when the turnover nemesis again haunted the Indians. Jackson made its only two turnovers during the period on a pair of interception by linemen.

"There are a lot of things you have to prepare for through the course of a game and a season, and trying to keep a defensive lineman from intercepting and stealing the ball away from our running back on a screen pass is not one of them," Jackson coach Brent Eckley said.

Vandeven was sacked six times by an aggressive Hickman defense that brought blitzes and constant pressure.

"The sacks had a lot more to do with them having guys coming free or beating us one-one-one than it did the quarterback hanging on to it," Eckley said. "I estimated that he got hit on between 45 and 50 snaps of our 61 offensive snaps."

Vandeven completed 14 of 31 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for a touchdown. The Indians, who were averaging over 400 yards of offense, were held to 233 total yards.

"He may be a little more athletic than Ty," Eckley said about Vandeven. "As of right now his release is a little bit quicker, and that gives him a little bit of an advantage."

Senior receiver Brannon Wright, who has been dealing with stress fracture in a leg, had his best numbers of the three recent road games with six catches for 106 yards. Wright now has a team-high 34 catches for 688 yards.

The Indians currently are the second seed in Class 5 District 1 but haven't ruled out the top spot, occupied by Rockwood Summit. Jackson virtually is assured of one of the two first-week byes in the six-team district. Fox (4-4), currently the third seed, is the only team that could move into the No. 2 spot, but the Warriors (4-4) play unbeaten Lafayette (8-0) tonight.

Francis Howell Central's lone win came in Week 5, a 34-0 win against winless Francis Howell North, but the Spartans generally have hung tough against a difficult schedule. Six of their eight opponents have winning records, which includes unbeaten and state-ranked Francis Howell.

"It is deceiving," Eckley said. "I do not expect them to be a bad football team. I just know they've played some good football teams."

Junior quarterback Brody Allen is a dual threat for the Spartans. He has completed 51 percent of his passes for 1,607 yards and leads the team in rushing with 595 yards. (5.6 ypc), according to stltoday.com.

"All the coaches I've talked to have said they have struggled being able to pin him down and get him for a loss," Eckley said.

Senior Desmond Young has been Allen's top target with 33 catches for 595 yards. Five of Allen's 11 touchdown passes have been to Young, who also is second on the team in rushing with 172 yards (7.8 ypc). Junior Justin Hayden is second with 29 receptions for 372 yards. Seniors Alex Lewis and Derrick Puni also are in double figures with catches.

Senior linebacker Ian Loy is the Spartans' top tackler by a wide margin with 74 solo tackles and 24 assists. He has 43 more total tackles than any other player.

"It's kind of scary to me, because athletically they're a good looking group," Eckley said. "They probably will look better in their pads than Hickman did. Individually they've got some really good players, and collectively they haven't gotten it all put together yet. You never know, it might all come together for them Friday night."

Class 5 District 1 -- 1. Rockwood Summit (6-2) 41.06, 2. Jackson (5-2) 39.53, 3. Fox (4-4) 36.79, 4. Vianney (3-5) 31.06, 5. Poplar Bluff (5-3) 30.82, 6. Seckman (1-7) 18.31

St. Vincent (5-3) at Jefferson (3-4)

Last week: St. Vincent 56, Grandview 26; Chaffee 41, Jefferson 39

Last year: Did not play

Outlook: St. Vincent is on a four-game winning streak and already has secured a home playoff spot in next week's Class 1 District 1 tournament. The Indians currently are seeded fourth but could possibly bump Thayer out of the three spot.

The Indians went into last week averaging 21 points a game and broke loose for 56. They led 42-6 by halftime.

"I think last week we really saw a lot of the potential this team has," St. Vincent coach Paul Sauer said. "They came out ready to play and played all four quarters. That's what we‘ve been preaching since the start of the year."

Junior running back Alex Winkler, the Indians' leading rusher on the season, had 15 carries for 103 yards and two touchdowns. Senior quarterback Trent Elder added 85 yards on eight rushes and completed 7 of 12 passes for 110 yards.

"I'm seeing him really stepping up the last couple of weeks," Sauer said.

Jefferson is a first-year varsity program that has shown well in its debut season. Its only loss of more than seven points came against Class 1 power Valle Catholic.

Jefferson runs a Wing-T offense and "95 percent" of the time, according to Sauer.

St. Vincent could secure the program's first winning season since 2008. It would be the first winning record for Sauer since returning to the program in 2009.

Class 1 District 1 -- 1. Portageville (7-0) 54.67, 2. Valle Catholic (6-2) 50.47, 3. Thayer (5-3) 43.88, 4. St. Vincent (5-3) 42.73, 5. Hayti (3-5) 33.68, 6. Chaffee (3-5) 32.14, 7. Crystal City (2-6) 29.42, 8. Cabool (0-8) 23.16

Charleston (6-2) at Chaffee (3-5)

Last week: Charleston 66, East Prairie 0; Chaffee 41, Jefferson 39

Last year: Did not play

Outlook: Chaffee has had the bragging rights for 48 years in this matchup. The teams last met in 1964, and the Red Devils came away with a 13-7 win.

Chaffee has won two of its last three games but will start next week's district tournament on the road regardless of tonight's outcome. The Red Devils possibly could move from their current sixth spot in the seeding to No. 5.

Junior running back/receiver Charlie Montgomery had been slow to recover from a start-of-the-season ankle sprain but gave every indication he's back to 100 percent last week. He supplied more than 200 yards of offense -- 120 rushing and 81 receiving -- and scored two touchdowns against Jefferson. He also intercepted two passes. He became the Red Devils' leading rusher with 265 yards on the season.

"This will be the first week we have everybody in pads that should be playing," Chaffee coach Charlie Vickery said.

Montgomery's younger brother, Peyton, is coming off his best game statistically since Week 1. The sophomore quarterback completed 13 of 19 passes for 200 yards.

Senior Layton Tenkhoff had 114 yards receiving on three catches and pulled in two touchdowns. Tenkoff leads the team with 26 receptions for 455 yards.

Junior linebacker Devon Yahn leads the Chaffee defense with 104 tackles, while sophomore defensive lineman Trevor Morehead has a team-high six sacks.

Charleston has assembled a five-game winning streak during the easier part of its schedule. The Blue Jays opened their season with a loss against unbeaten Sikeston and fell to Caruthersville, a one-loss team, in Week 3.

Junior Robert Bogan has rushed for a team-high 927 yards. Sophomore Rontavious Clark has 598 yards.

"They have a lot of speed and good size," Vickery said. "They've been playing some good football. They've kind of got the corner turned the last couple of years. It will really be a challenge for us, but we're looking forward to see how we stack up."

Class 1 District 1 -- 1. Portageville (7-0) 54.67, 2. Valle Catholic (6-2) 50.47, 3. Thayer (5-3) 43.88, 4. St. Vincent (5-3) 42.73, 5. Hayti (3-5) 33.68, 6. Chaffee (3-5) 32.14, 7. Crystal City (2-6) 29.42, 8. Cabool (0-8) 23.16

Perryville (3-5) at Herculaneum (6-2)

Last week: Perryville 20, Windsor 12; Herculaneum 41, Valle 39

Last year: Herculaneum 27, Perryville 8

Outlook: The Pirates broke a five-game losing streak with an eight-point victory against winless Windsor last week.

Perryville had been outscored 179-24 the previous four weeks against teams with a combined 24-7 record.

"I'm glad to be out of that stretch," Perryville coach Mike Wojtczuk said.

The Pirates had their best offensive game since Week 2 with 284 yards from scrimmage against Windsor. Senior running back Levi Zook rushed for a season-high 123 yards, part of a 255-yard rushing night for the Pirates. Junior Cody Crawford continues to lead Perryville with 401 yards rushing (5.2 ypc) on the season. Zook is second with 303 yards (5.7 ypc).

The Pirates, seventh in their district seeding, face a tougher task in their final preparation for a likely meeting with No. 2 seed Hillsboro in the first round of the district tournament.

Herculaneum has won six consecutive games since a season-opening 9-6 overtime loss to Scott City.

The Blackcats have averaged 32.5 points per game since their loss. Only two of Herculaneum's wins have come against teams with winning records, but last week's 41-39 victory over state-ranked Valle was an eye-opener. The Warriors did lose their starting quarterback in the first quarter.

"Any time you lose your signal-caller, it definitely shakes things up for you a little bit," Wojtczuk said. "But I'm not taking anything away from Herky. They did a good job. We'll have our hands full -- that's definitely a fact."

Junior running back Dustin Johnson continues to be the central figure in the Blackcats' offense. Johnson was a one-man wrecking crew against Valle, rushing for all six of Herculaneum's touchdowns. He scored on two runs of at least 55 yards and had 221 yards on his touchdown runs.

"He's done that several times," Wojtczuk said about the big night for Johnson. "They've been running him 35 or 40 times a game."

Johnson, who has a short but powerful build, has 1,344 yards rushing on 198 carries (6.9 ypc). No other rusher on Herculaneum has more than 200 yards.

"Their main focus is to get the ball into Johnson's hands and let him run," Wojtczuk said. "He finds a seam and accelerates. He's a sprinter on their track team. We're going to focus on the run and stop the run and force them do some things they normally don't like to do."

Class 4 District 1 -- 1. Sikeston (8-0) 48.26, 2. Hillsboro (6-2) 39.61, 3. North County (5-3) 34.14, 4. Festus (5-3) 34.14, 5. Central (2-6) 31.85, 6. Farmington (2-6) 25.64, 7. Perryville (3-5) 22.57, 8. De Soto (2-6) 21.18

Central (2-6) at Festus (5-3)

Last week: Chaminade 21, Central 14 (OT); St. Charles West 28, Festus 14

Last year: Central 21, Festus 20

Outlook: Central attempts to snap a five-game losing streak that includes a four-game streak of tough losses.

Central fell in overtime at Chaminade last week after losing fourth-quarter leads the three previous weeks.

Central, despite the tough-luck run, can secure a home playoff game with a victory tonight. The win also would set up a rematch in the first game of the district tournament.

If Festus wins, Central would find itself on the road, most likely against North County, next week in the district tournament.

This will be the fifth game Festus has had against district opponents, having gone 3-1 thus far. Festus beat North County 48-31 in Week 6, and with a win tonight probably would jump to No. 3 in the district seeding based on head-to-head results. Windsor likely would drop to No. 4 and host No. 5 Central.

Central is playing its third district opponent, already having lost to Farmington and Sikeston. Festus defeated Farmington 24-21 in its season opener, while Central lost to the Knights 39-36 in Week 6.

Central christened its new stadium with a thrilling 21-20 win against Festus last year. The Tigers had trouble stopping sophomore quarterback Blake Goddard, who rushed 26 times for 211 yards, in that game.

Goddard won't be a concern tonight. He transferred to Class 5 Kirkwood and is seeing action primarily at running back for the unbeaten and state-ranked Pioneers. Sophomore Andrew Hayden now guides the Festus offense.

Festus, like Central, is primarily a rushing team. Corey Carr leads the Festus ground game with 869 yards on 100 carries (8.69 ypc), according to stltoday.com. Sophomore Jordan Wilkes and Nathan Cumming have combined for 96 carries and 563 yards.

Hayden has completed 21 of 43 passing for 337 yards, while Travis Spraul is Festus' top receiver with 10 catches for 134 yards.

Central senior running back Jacob Campbell rushed for 161 yards against Chaminade and has a team-leading 767 yards (5.8 ypc). Campbell overtook fellow senior Chris Martin, who has missed the last two weeks with an ankle sprain. Martin had 627 yards before being injured early in the Farmington game.

The Tigers are averaging 229 yards rushing and 75 yards passing.

Class 4 District 1 -- 1. Sikeston (8-0) 48.26, 2. Hillsboro (6-2) 39.61, 3. North County (5-3) 34.14, 4. Festus (5-3) 34.14, 5. Central (2-6) 31.85, 6. Farmington (2-6) 25.64, 7. Perryville (3-5) 22.57, 8. De Soto (2-6) 21.18

Scott City (4-4): Open week

Class 2 District 1 -- 1. Caruthersville (6-1) 45.98, 2. Charleston (6-2) 41.15, 3. Malden (6-2) 40.98, 4. Scott City (4-4) 31.59; 5. Jefferson (3-4) 30.65, 6. Grandview (3-5) 24.69, 7. St. Pius (2-6) 22.25, 8. East Prairie (0-8) 14.5

-- Jeff Breer