Showtime starts Friday for area football teams

SEMO News Service photo by Josh Mills Andy Lack (right) and the Kennett Indians begin their push to capture the school's first playoff berth in 23 years on Friday night when they open district play at Perryville. [Click to enlarge]

The last seven weeks have been dress rehearsal. Now the show starts in earnest for area football teams.

Friday night marks the opening of district play for Missouri high school football teams, with the top two teams in those four-team districts advancing to the postseason.

If the first seven weeks of the 2009 season mean anything, these final three weeks of district competition should be interesting. Let's take a look at the three districts involving Bootheel teams:

Class 1, District 1 -- This one looks wide open. Hayti has won this one the last two years, but the Indians have struggled at times this year on their way to a 4-3 record. Still, Hayti has the best record in the district and right now seems to be the favorite to win.

However, don't count out Portageville or St. Vincent. Portageville (3-4) snapped a 32-game losing streak earlier this season, and the Bulldogs' four losses have came to teams with a combined record of 19-9 -- and all four are larger schools. Friday's matchup at home against Hayti will be telling.

Meanwhile, St. Vincent has won back-to-back games after an 0-5 start. The Perry County school plays a tough schedule and lost by only a touchdown to Class 3 Park Hills Central, who just won at New Madrid County Central last week. The battle for the district crown will be an interesting one in this district.

Class 2, District 1 -- Another wide open affair. While Caruthersville and East Prairie (6-1) look to be the favorites, don't count out Malden. The Green Wave (2-5) have lost three games by a touchdown or less this fall and have proven that they can compete with anyone.

Caruthersville (5-2) is the district's most athletic team and has lost two games to Class 3 schools, while East Prairie's lone loss was at Class 3 Fredericktown and the Eagles boast a salty defense.

Even Charleston (0-7) may have a shot. The Bluejays took Fredericktown to overtime last week before losing and cannot be discounted apparently.

Class 3, District 1 -- Don't let the 4-3 record and recent struggles fool you. New Madrid County Central is still the favorite in this district. The Eagles' three losses are to teams with a combined record of 20-1 and all three of them may be ranked in the new state polls that come out Wednesday. While NMCC's defense may have holes, its offense -- led by junior standout G'Darius Stevenson -- is one of the best in the area.

The real battle in this district could be for the No. 2 seed. Kennett and Dexter both are 3-4 this season and play each other to close the season.

Assuming both schools beat winless Perryville the next two weeks -- and that's no guarantee -- that final game will be for a trip to either Park Hills or Potosi in the first round of the playoffs on November 4.

Both teams have had their ups and downs on offense, averaging around two touchdowns per night, but Kennett has held teams to less than 200 yards per game -- and that includes last week's loss to Dexter where the Bulldogs racked up 459 yards of offense. However, Dexter has played a tougher schedule, traveling to Poplar Bluff and Gosnell, Ark. in addition to taking on Sikeston.

Titanic woes: Not many people thought that the Tennessee Titans would start 0-5 this season. After all, the Titans had the best record in the NFL last year and returned most of those components.

Still, five weeks into the season, the Titans are still looking for a win -- and maybe even a spark after back-to-back three-touchdown losses to the Jaguars and the Colts.

However, there still seems to be some optimism left in Nashville.

"Really, we've just got to try to continue to get better and right the ship," Titans' guard Eugene Amano said. "We can't get down on ourselves and we can't think the season's lost. There's still a lot of games to be played and we're not going to quit on the season, I know that for a fact."

Tennessee heads to New England to take on Tom Brady and the Patriots this weekend, a game that promises to be a challenge for the Titans.

"Next week is another really good opponent," defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch said. "Any type of win would be huge for this team, especially against a good team like New England."

Mike Buhler is the sports editor of the Daily Dunklin Democrat. Contact him at mbuhler@dddnews.com