Tough test awaits Bulldogs as they head to 'The Pit' in Jackson

sports@standard-democrat.com

JACKSON -- The Jackson Indians' rise as the premier high school football program in southeast Missouri is nearly complete.

Only one obstacle remains: the Sikeston Bulldogs.

The two SEMO North Conference powers will square off tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at Jackson High School in the 98th meeting between the long storied rivals.

A victory by Jackson (4-1, 3-0 SEMO) will clinch a conference championship for the first time since 2007.

A victory for Sikeston (5-0, 2-0 SEMO) will clinch at least a tie for a conference title for the fourth time in five years.

"There's a lot riding on it," Jackson coach Brent Eckley said. "Our kids are excited to play against Sikeston. We know they're a good team and defending conference champions. No reason we wouldn't be excited. It should be a big game and a great atmosphere."

The Bulldogs have been a nemesis of the Indians for decades, leading the all-time series 56-35-6.

They've continued the trend recently by winning four-straight, outscoring the Indians 137-44 in that stretch, including 26-17 last year to ruin Jackson's undefeated season and costing them the conference championship.

Eckley downplayed any notion that Jackson's players are using last year's loss as motivation.

"Sikeston's got guys that moved on and graduated and so do we," Eckley said. "I don't know if revenge is necessarily in the mix, but for certain our kids are motivated to play well in a big game-type atmosphere."

Jackson was long considered the top high school program throughout the 1990s and 2000s, but the Indians fell on hard times while Sikeston's program rose to prominence.

The Bulldogs have gone 48-7 in the past five seasons, which includes two Class 4 semifinal appearances.

Both teams are off to hot starts once again this season, with Jackson crushing every team in its path with the exception of a 52-27 loss to Vianney in Week 2.

The Indians have won its other four games by an average score of 42-14.

Last week in a huge rivalry game against Cape Central in front of a reported 7,000 fans, Jackson throttled the Tigers 56-27.

"It's probably the best team we've played in quite some time," Sikeston coach Kent Gibbs said of the Indians. "I think they've fast developed into a playoff caliber-type Class 5 team. They're very, very explosive, obviously, on offense. We've got our work cut out for us to stay in the ballgame to be real honest about it."

The Indians average 39 points per game and are led by the athletic talents of junior quarterback Dante Vandeven, who has 1,372 total yards (480 rushing, 892 passing).

"He runs the ball extremely well," Gibbs said of Vandeven. "He's got a lot of moves. He's quick. He's explosive. He does a good job of finding his open receivers, hitting you in the seams where you're not, so to speak. We've got to pressure the ball and make sure our pursuit angles are correct and we've got to make sure that once we're there, we don't let him slip tackles. Him and (running back Colton) Proffer are both good at slipping tackles. We're going to have to arrive at him with more than one hat and make a play once we're there."

Vandeven is the triggerman, but he has plenty of weapons at his disposal. Proffer returned from injury and rushed for 175 yards last week. Senior running back Garrett Miller and Xominique Davis are both used out of the backfield.

B.J. Heuer, Taylor Henson and Tyler Selsor are three of the top receiving targets for Vandeven.

"The big thing that they try to do is they try to find matchups that they can put one of their good kids against somebody they think they can beat," Gibbs said. "We're going to try and throw some different looks at them and try to get the people that we like matched up and see how that works and slow them down a little bit."

Sikeston's defense has carried the team to its fourth 5-0 start in the last five years, allowing just 8.2 points per game and possessing a stifling run defense that has allowed just 244 yards through the first four games.

Opponents average just 61 yards rushing per game and 1.6 yards per carry against the Bulldogs.

"(Sikeston's) defense has been pretty dominant," Eckley said. "They haven't had all of their pieces as of late (with injuries), but they typically improve as the season goes along. Their coaches do a great job of having a balanced system. They run to the ball and play aggressive physically."

But the Bulldogs have shown some vulnerability through the air the past two weeks, allowing 329 passing yards combined against Farmington and Poplar Bluff.

"A team that gets 700 yards one night and scores 56 points, I don't know if you completely stop a team like that," Gibbs said of Jackson. "We've got to slow them down a little bit. They operate at a high rate of speed. It will be a big test for us."

The Bulldogs' offense does not have the big play capability of the Indians. This year's team, without the game-breaking speed that they have been known for in the past, has utilized long, drawn out ball control drives to average 26 points per game.

With only 50 passes and 289 rushing attempts through five games, Sikeston has done the bulk of its work on the ground.

Against the high-octane offense of the Indians, ball-control drives for the Bulldogs may be the best defense Gibbs can use tomorrow night.

"Anytime you play a team that runs 100 plays, you've got to find ways to keep the ball away from them and keep their offense off the field and it doesn't just rely with the defense," Gibbs said. "Offensively it's going to be key for us to hang onto the football in whatever fashion that's working. But I think their defense is awful good too. It doesn't mean we're going to change what we do. We do what we do and we're going to try to hang onto the ball for long periods of time. Take our time a little bit and hopefully limit their possessions."

One way to do that is pounding the ball right at opponents on the ground with quarterback Reese Porter (104 carries, 532 yards, 7 TD), running back Chris Word (73-395, 4 TD) and running back Earnest Fobbs (37-239, 2 TD).

"On offense they've shown a pretty high tendency to run -- I would be too if I had the two guys back there that they do," Eckley said. "They're very physical runners and very tough runners. Their offensive line gets off the ball well and they also block well on the perimeter with their receivers."

Jackson's football stadium has been hard on the visiting teams, including Sikeston, which has won just one time in the past four visits.

Gibbs knows the Bulldogs will have to be firing on all cylinders tomorrow night to hang with the powerful Indian offense.

"I think you've got to be realistic about things and I'm being honest when I say it, we're going to have to play really well to be in the ballgame," Gibbs said. "We can't make mistakes and do things to shoot ourselves in the foot, whether it be missed assignments on defense or mistakes on offense. No doubt it's a huge game. It's a huge game, number one because it's the next one up, but also because there's going to be a lot of people there. If we win we've still got a shot at being a conference champion again. No grand illusions or anything, we're going to have to play really well."