Tribe to be tested by Bluejays

Kennett's Ben Howard (right) eludes a Portageville defender on his way to a big gain during last week's high school football jamboree at Dexter. Howard will be one of two starting running backs when the Indians open the season at Charleston Friday.

[Click to enlarge]

The Tribe kicks off the 2006 high school football season Friday on the road against the Charleston Bluejays, who enter Friday's contest ranked No. 2 in the SEMO Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association and received votes in the Associated Press Class 2 state football poll.

"We're going to have our hands full," Kennett coach Kirk Welch said. "We've stressed all week their speed and toughness. We know we're going to have to play and hit hard for four quarters."

The Bluejays return several key players from last season's 7-3 squad, including running back Joseph Watts, who rushed for over 1,300 yards in 2005.

"There's two things you got to do: you got to be able to run the football and stop the run," Welch said. "They're big and strong up there. They're athletic. Anytime you got a kid in high school that can rush for 1,000 yards and do that two or three years in a row, that's a big task and a big challenge for us trying to keep geared up to stop the run."

Also back for Charleston is All-SEMO Central tight end Jamarcus Williams, who led the team with 20 catches for 411 yards last season.

"Jamarcus has a more outgoing personality," Charleston coach Al Marshall told the Sikeston Standard-Democrat. "He's more verbal, kind of a take-charge guy."

The Bluejays also return senior Justin Clark, who moves from receiver to quarterback this season.

"You have to have a trigger man," Welch said of Clark. "If you don't have a trigger man, somebody that step up in there, take care of the offense and then execute it, it's tough. But, with a kid like him that's athletic, he's going to be able to run with it. He's going to be able to throw it.

"We're going to have to -- with him, with Watts and then those two big ol' receivers -- we're going to have to play 100 yards long and 50 yards wide. That makes you play the entire field where you can't just focus on tackle-to-tackle or whatever."

On the other side of the ball, Kennett will look to the duo of quarterback Wesley Jackson and running back Ben Howard, among others.

"They've got a lot of talented players, especially (Howard) and (Jackson), and some big strong linemen," Marshall said. "They've got size, speed and they're going to be a good opponent."

Howard is coming off a strong performance at the Dexter jamboree last week, breaking a pair of long runs, one for a touchdown and one that set up Kennett's other score at the event.

"We felt like Ben did some pretty good things last Friday in our jamboree," Welch said. "We've worked hard this week on the run. We're trying to get a little bit more confidence and a little bit better of a feel with the backs as well with the quarterback. We expect them to continue to make the improvements that they've made."

The Indians will be without senior receiver and linebacker Mario McGraw, who is still nursing a shoulder injury. Taking his place in the starting lineup will be senior Justin Coleman at receiver and Howard at linebacker.

Despite the potential obstacles to victory, Welch is optimistic entering Friday's game.

"We feel pretty good," Welch said. "I think the kids have worked hard. Our numbers are up from last year. We do have a lot of new faces. I think we've got 12 seniors and three or four returning starters on both sides of the ball. That leaves us with a lot of inexperience.

"But, I think overall they've came in, have had a good attitude and they've worked hard. We feel pretty good about our chances. If we go up there and play four quarters -- if we do our job, hopefully it will go down to the wire."

Larry Lewis of the SEMO News Service provided some of the information for this story.