Cape Central spoils Bluff's perfect year

POPLAR BLUFF -- For at least a night, it was all Brandon Twiggs all the time. Twiggs carried the ball 45 times for 210 yards -- both career highs -- to lead Cape Central to a 49-28 win and hand Poplar Bluff its first loss Thursday in the Class 4, District 1 championship game.

Central (8-2) won its fourth straight district title and will host North County on Wednesday at Houck Stadium in the sectional round. North County (9-1) defeated De Soto 63-6 for the District 2 title Thursday.

"All week the coaches talked about winning our fourth straight district title," Twiggs said, "and that just made us play harder."

The Tigers set the tempo of the game right off the first drive. Central went 68 yards on eight plays to go up 7-0 after Twiggs carried the ball seven times for 55 yards.

After a defensive hold, the Tigers went right back to work to go 51 yards on six plays on their second drive for a quick 14-0 lead. Craft said the Tigers were focused on getting their ground game on track early.

"We knew to win, we had to run it," he said.

Central's onslaught continued when Craft hit Mikell Abraham on a six-yard pass with no time left in the first quarter for a 21-0 lead. Poplar Bluff (8-1) never had a first down in the quarter. But with the momentum in Central's favor, the Tigers nearly gave the Mules a chance to get back in the game. Fumbles on consecutive possessions led to two Mule touchdowns that cut the lead to 21-14. The Tigers answered to score with 12 seconds left before half for a 28-14 lead.

It didn't take long for Central to get its offense rolling in the second half. The Tigers defense held firm on Poplar Bluff's first two possessions, and Craft's legs led Central to a touchdown on Central's second possession of the half.

Craft followed a 27-yard keeper with a three-yard touchdown run to give the Tigers a 35-14 lead.

"Those kids up front played an outstanding job again," Central coach Lawrence Brookins said. Another Craft touchdown run late in the third quarter put the Tigers up 42-14. The Mules' offense made its final stand after the Craft score.

Poplar Bluff quarterback Mark Gum connected on three straight passes to receiver Andrew Heuiser, the third being a one-yard touchdown to cap an 80-yard drive.

Later, Gum hit Whalen George on a 38-yard strike on the first play of a Poplar Bluff possession to cut the lead to 42-28, but the Mules turned it over on their next drive when lineman Darren Neels stripped the ball from Gum. Twiggs picked up the fumble for a 25-yard touchdown.

Gum, who threw for 1,700 yards before Thursday, had only 169 yards on 13-of-30 passing.

"The defensive backfield really had to work hard," Brookins said. "A lot of the time we only had three pass rushers."

Craft, in his third year as Central's starting quarterback, completed 10-of-13 passes for 157 yards.

STE. GENEVIEVE -- Adam Schwent rushed for a career-high 407 yards and five touchdowns to deliver host Ste. Genevieve the Class 3 District 2 championship for the third straight year last night at Dragon Stadium.

The Dragons walloped and stunned favorite Festus 42-26 for the right to visit District 1 champ New Madrid County Central, the 10th-ranked team in the Class 3 state poll, at 7 p.m. Wednesday for sectional action.

Ste. Genevieve (7-3, 3-2 MAFC-White) has now won 10 district titles in the school's history. It is the second time the Dragons have won three consecutive district titles -- the other span from 1997-99.

Wednesday's game will be a rematch of the 1997 sectional contest that NMCC won. Schwent scored touchdowns in each quarter on runs of 25, 13, 88, 17 and 50 yards, respectively. It was his first-ever 300- and 400-yard game, and he is the first Dragon to ever reach the 2,000-yard mark in a single season. He broke the school's season-rushing record of 1,723 yards last week.

Ste. Genevieve and Festus both defeated district opponents Potosi and Park Hills Central the previous two weeks to set up the winner-take-all matchup between each other last night.

Ste. Genevieve jumped out to a 14-0 lead after one quarter, but the Tigers (8-2, 3-2) roared back to tie the game at 20-all early in the third quarter, before Schwent went completely nuts the rest of the game to end the Tigers' season.

The Dragon line on both sides of the ball were key last night as they opened up plenty of holes for Schwent and stuffed the Tiger offense for most of the night.

Festus lineman Kyle Riggs, a 6-foot-7, 305-pound Missouri-signee, surprisingly was not a major factor in the game.

Both teams finished in a three-way tie with Fredericktown for second place in the Mississippi Area Football Conference-White Division standings.

HAYTI -- Chaffee spotted Hayti a 34-0 lead in the first quarter and never recovered in its season-ending 68-0 loss on the road Thursday in a Class 1, District 1 football game.

The Red Devils (0-10) got 44 yards on eight carries from Chris Hanback.

Quarterback Jeff Daugherty was 2-for-11 for 15 yards, but he had two interceptions. Hayti climbed to 7-2 in the district, which was won by St. Vincent.