October 1, 2015
SEMO North title up for grabs when Sikeston visits Jackson at The Pit
Sikeston, which hasn't won a conference title since 2012, owns the tiebreaker with Cape Central by virtue of its 23-19 victory over the Tigers in Week 3.
By Derek James - Standard Democrat
sports@standard-democrat.com
JACKSON -- Even with last week's disappointing loss at Poplar Bluff, the Sikeston Bulldogs control their own destiny.
The Bulldogs' 26-16 loss to the Mules set up a three-way tie at the top of the standings in the SEMO North Conference with Jackson and Cape Central, but Sikeston can still clinch the league title outright with a victory over Jackson tomorrow night at Jackson High School.
Sikeston, which hasn't won a conference title since 2012, owns the tiebreaker with Cape Central by virtue of its 23-19 victory over the Tigers in Week 3.
"The kids are hungry," Sikeston coach Kent Gibbs said. "They're talking about that conference championship but at the same time we've got to execute. We've got to execute out in practice and we've got to execute in games and take care of our business."
Sikeston lost its first game of the season last week in a penalty-plagued and mistake-filled game. Sikeston had season-highs in penalties and penalty yards, which included having two touchdowns wiped off the scoreboard on the same drive.
"We were really disappointed the other night to be real honest about it," Gibbs said. "To a man, we came in after the game and right away the kids were talking about how we just didn't play like we needed to play. Not taking anything away from Bluff because they took the game to us and did what they needed to do, but we just felt like we can play a little bit better."
In that game against Poplar Bluff, Sikeston had trouble moving the football out of its normal double-tight, double-wing offense. When the team switched to a spread offense, the Bulldogs began to find success.
Gibbs says he isn't sure which offense will be used the most tomorrow night, but one thing he is certain of is that his team will need to control the football and control the clock.
"We've got to be able to run the football, that's not a secret to anybody," Gibbs said. "Whatever front that they give us in whatever formation we run, we've got to be able to run it. We've got to be able to take care of the football and keep the ball in our hands away from them to help our defense a little bit."
Conversely, Jackson operates its offense at a no-huddle, break-neck pace.
"It's contrasting styles in that we like to go fast and try to run a lot of plays," Jackson head coach Brent Eckley said. "[Sikeston] would like to have four drives a game and we would like to have 16 drives a game. It will depend on who controls the momentum early and who dictates the tempo of the game."
Partly due to that frenetic pace, Jackson's offense has had no trouble putting up points all season.
The Indians (2-4, 2-1 SEMO) are averaging 31.5 points per game this season, but the number jumps to 40 points per game against conference foes the last three weeks.
"The big thing that they're doing is they are scoring a lot of points," Gibbs said. "I mean they've shown they can score points against everybody. We've got to keep them low enough, scoring-wise, where we're going to be able to stay with them."
Jackson lost its first three games to open the season against strong competition, falling to Columbia Battle (42-20), Vianney (52-28) and Marquette (41-21). The Indians then defeated conference rivals Farmington (35-29) and Poplar Bluff (50-48) on the road before last week's home loss to Cape Central.
"Their record is a little indicative of their schedule -- they have a great schedule early on," Gibbs said.
Jackson has used two quarterbacks effectively this year. Landry Moore has put up good numbers since taking over the position in Week 3, throwing for 1,002 yards and completing a staggering 71 percent of his passes.
Triston Thele has thrown for 505 yards, completing 54 percent of his passes. He's also rushed for 237 yards.
"Jackson's got great talent on offense," Gibbs said. "They play a couple different quarterbacks. One of them runs a lot and one of them throws a lot. We've got to be ready for both quarterbacks. We've just got to make sure we don't give up the big play and try and make them complete the short stuff and rally to it."
Receiver Jeremy Elliott has put up huge numbers with 57 receptions for 680 yards and 10 touchdowns.
At running back, Ethan Laster leads the team with 407 yards rushing followed by Bryndan Reid with 347 yards rushing.
Quentin Kent and Jacob Starzinger are also two of the top playmakers at both receiver and running back for the Indians.
"The thing they do a good job of is getting to the open spots and then they do a good job of delivering the football on the money to them and getting yards after the catch," Gibbs said. "They kind of try to do some of the same things Bluff did as far as hitting the seams and that kind of thing."
Where the Indians have had some struggles this year is on the defensive side of the ball where they are surrendering 43.3 points per game this season, including allowing 48 points to both Poplar Bluff and Cape Central the last two weeks.
Eckley said that playing the tough competition has been a benefit for his team's run through the conference.
"They kind of helped us, but at the same time we got beat up a little bit -- we lost some kids along the way," Eckley said. "But I think we're better for playing the schedule that we played. The big difference on getting on the right track is we win games when we take care of the football and we lose games when we don't take care of it. That was the key to us winning a couple of games, taking care of the football."
Sikeston is averaging 39.5 points per game and allowing 15.3 points on average this season. The numbers are nearly identical against conference opponents, with the Bulldogs averaging 22.3 points and allowing 22.
Victwon Riley leads the Bulldog rushing attack with 549 yards with 10 touchdowns. Earnest Fobbs follows up with 455 yards and six touchdowns.
Quarterback Nathan Hampton, who threw for a career high 210 yards last week, has 527 yards passing with five touchdowns.
Gibbs feels every game on the Bulldogs' schedule is "winnable," but if they have sloppy performances such as last week then his team's chances at victory decrease dramatically.
"The big thing we need to do is take care of our mistakes offensively," Gibbs said. "We've got to get rid of our penalties, we've got to get rid of dropped passes and those kinds of things and just execute. If we do those things then we will have a chance to be in the ballgame."
Friday's game marks the 100th meeting between the Bulldogs and the Indians. Sikeston leads the all-time series 56-37-6.
Advertisement
Advertisement