Semoball’s analytical wizard (Brian Rosener, sports editor for the Daily American Republic) has crunched the numbers and formed a prep football ranking system of area teams throughout the Semoball-coverage area. It is as follows: Using a team's point total MSHSAA uses for district seeding, bonus points for wins against Semoball area teams and road wins, along with its Massey Rating, which ranks every team in the state, the five undefeated teams in the area top the rankings. 1. New Madrid Central (53.13) 2. Caruthersville (52.30) 3. Jackson (49.31) 4. Kennett (48.04) 5. Scott City (46.38). 6. Charleston (43.86) 7. Hayti (42.41) 8. Cape Central (40.16) 9. Poplar Bluff (39.42) 10. Perryville (35.85) 11. St. Vincent 1-2 34.24 12. Malden 1-2 34.33 13. Sikeston 1-2 28.11 14. Portageville 1-2 22.88 15. Kelly 2-1 22.26 16. Chaffee 1-2 21.40 17. East Prairie 0-3 17.54 18. Dexter 0-3 13.00 19. Doniphan 0-3 12.08 Here is a list of “What 2 Watch 4” throughout the Semoball-coverage area tonight. Penalty problems Dexter (0-3) committed only three penalties in its first two games but were penalized 10 times in a 43-15 loss to New Madrid County Central Friday. The Bearcats, don’t play tonight and are spending the bye week working on minimizing those mistakes in an effort to boost their offensive production. More than half of those penalties came when Dexter had the ball. Yikes! For Sikeston Dominance is one way to look at the Jackson football program, especially this season. The Indians have outscored their prior three opponents 140-13, and have two shutouts, including last week’s 35-0 win over Cape Central. Sikeston’s season doesn’t get any easier tonight, as the Bulldogs travel to “The Pit” for a tough Week 4 matchup. Jackson poses a variety of different threats. At quarterback, Cael Welker has had an outstanding season. He has thrown for 490 yards, completing nearly 66 percent of his passes, with seven touchdowns to just two interceptions along with running for 148 yards on 26 carries and four touchdowns. For Sikeston, Lontas McClinton carries the offense. McClinton has 193 rushing yards this season, on 30 carries. He also provides excellent defense, with 23 tackles, one tackle for loss, three forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries. Seth Copeland is the other anchor on defense for Sikeston, with his team-leading 25 tackles. He also has three tackles for loss and one forced fumble as well. You know he’s coming Last season, the Kelly football team defeated Malden for the first time in program history. The Hawks look to build off that win, in Week 4, as Malden faces the task of stopping top runner Evan Urhahn. Last week, against St. Vincent, Urhahn totaled 24 carries for 147 yards and three touchdowns. He has totaled over 20 carries, and 100 yards rushing in each game this season and is looking to do the same against a Malden team that is giving up nearly 44 points per game. The main target on offense, every team knows who is going to touch the football the most for the Hawks, yet the results still come out staggeringly for the junior. Bounce back effort? Scoring only two touchdowns against Malden in Week 3, Portageville looks to avenge that defeat in its Week 4 matchup against Chaffee. The Bulldogs finished with 81 rushing yards last week, with AJ Hicks accounting for 66 of them. He also added one touchdown on his nine carries. Alex Winsor took most of the snaps at quarterback, completing nine of his 14 passes for 72 yards and one touchdown. Jared Crafton was the recipient of the Windsor throw and finished his evening with six catches for 58 yards. The Rams are rollin’ Blessin Kimble had a strong showing for Charleston in the Bluejays’ Week 3 matchup against Doniphan. He had four catches for 175 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Teijay Williams had 193 passing yards on 5-of-13 passing with one interception in a 20-0 win over the Dons. However, Week 4 provides a much more difficult test, as Scott City rolls into town. The Rams are coming off of a dominant second-half performance against East Prairie in Week 3. After trailing 15-13 at the end of the first half, the Rams outscored the Eagles 37-8 in the second, for a 50-21 win. Jimmy May had 24 carries for 128 yards and five touchdowns, three in the third quarter. On the offensive Scoring over 40 points in each of its last three games, New Madrid County Central looks to make it four-in-a-row when it faces Doniphan on the road. The Dons have a tough task in front of them, as the Eagles offense brings many different ways to beat you. On the ground, Quazavion Jackson is a wrecking ball. Last week, against Dexter, Jackson rushed for 110 yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns. Quarterback Matt Riley, who will be the signal-caller in Week 4, has made a seamless transition since entering the game for an injured Christen Phillips in Week 2 against East Prairie. Last week, Riley threw for 209 yards on 15-of-20 passing, with two touchdowns. His favorite target is Austin Davis, who last week, caught five passes for 111 yards and both of Riley’s touchdown passes. Bad timing East Prairie is looking for its first win of the season when it takes on state-ranked Hayti. The Eagles are coming off of a 50-21 loss to Scott City in Week 3, a game which they led at halftime. Hayden Ellis is the feature runner for the Eagles. Last week, he rushed for 114 yards on 16 carries, while scoring two touchdowns. Overall, the Eagles rushed for 243 yards on 51 carries. Hayti is coming off of a 74-0 drubbing of Chaffee in Week 3. Like East Prairie, running the ball is Hayti’s strong suit. Against Charleston in Week 2, the Indians rushed for 271 yards on 41 carries. In Week 3, Hayti grew that number to 318 yards on just 16 carries, making it look effortless. Hayti has several explosive runners on the team, including TreCharles McCoy, who led the team in rushing against Chaffee, with 98 yards on just two carries. Trevontae Stephenson had three carries for 67 yards, while Quindale Malone had four carries for 67 yards. Super sophomores Poplar Bluff's sophomore class had a big night on Friday the 13th. Quarterback Kannon Carr threw for a career-high 283 yards with three touchdowns, two to sophomore Devin Gatewood. Dalton Gatewood had six tackles, among the team leaders, along with fellow sophomore Garrett Lazalier, who averaged 25.2 yards per punt. Kicker Chandler Beaton filled in to do the PATs and tied a team record after opening the game with an onside kick. Tied record Poplar Bluff kicker Chandler Beaton missed his first attempt to tie the team PAT record last week but got a second chance when Justin Mitchell returned a punt 30 yards for a touchdown after a strange bounce. Beaton converted 7 of 9 point-after kicks to join three other kickers with seven PATs in a game — Matt Hayes (1991), Adam Vincent (2016) and Victor Rivera (2017). Beaton, who opened the game with an onside kick, was filling in as junior Alex Ketcherside, who was with the Mules’ soccer team. The previous week, Ketcherside and Beaton arrived late to the game after playing for the soccer team and the Mules had to go for two points after their first touchdown. Ketcherside converted all six of his kicks after that. High-scoring Yellow Jackets Poplar Bluff's 61 points against Sikeston last week were the most by the Mules since a 61-7 win over Cairo (Ill.) in 1958. It was only the sixth time in the last 99 years that a Poplar Bluff football team scored 60 points. In 1929, when Poplar Bluff teams were known as the Yellow Jackets, a 65-0 win over Doniphan started a 6-0-2 season in which Poplar Bluff outscored opponents 143-0. The single-game record for points is 90 from a 1927 game against Morley. The 1928 team beat Bertrand 89-0, West Plains 51-13 and Bloomfield 62-0. Four other Poplar Bluff teams scored 50 twice in a season, the last in 2009. The coach of those 1920s teams was E.T. 'Pete' Peters, who graduated from Central Missouri University. In his honor, the students voted to adopt the Mules as the mascot. Homecoming for the Dons The Dons will host their second homecoming game since the football program returned to varsity play tonight against New Madrid Central. Doniphan is looking for its first win since Oct. 12, 1979, and was locked in a scoreless tie with Charleston at halftime last week before losing 20-0. The Dons lost five fumbles in that game and were stopped on the goal line to end the half. Doniphan's last varsity win was 33-6 against South Pemiscot. Kicking Camden Kennett has elected to kick extra points after most of its touchdowns in its three blowout wins this season. Indians’ kicker Camden Pritchett has made 13 of 15 extra-point attempts so far. Two of the last five meetings between Kennett and Caruthersville have been decided by one point, so Caruthersville’s ability to execute on two-point conversions after touchdowns could impact Kennett’s own scoring strategy following touchdowns. Gutty Green Wave The Malden offense converted on fourth down three times in the first half in last week’s 48-12 win against Portageville. It is unlikely the Green Wave will be shy about going for it again if the opportunity presents itself early on against Kelly. Hamilton’s havoc Caruthersville quarterback Devin Russell has thrown 10 passes to Dundi Hamilton for 287 yards this season. He has a team-high seven touchdown catches and could create havoc for a Kennett defense that has established a reputation of defending the passing game well so far. Maybe a close game? There has been little suspense in the games this season involving Chaffee and Portageville, both 1-2 teams. Chaffee has been outscored 120-0 over its last two games, including a 74-0 bruising last week to defending Class 1 state champion Hayti, since opening the season with a 52-8 blowout win over Crystal City (since outscored 104-0). Portageville rolled over Grandview 40-15 in Week 2, but has been outscored 96-20 in losses to Charleston and Malden. How the Tigers respond Cape Central will be looking to restore momentum in hosting Farmington after rival Jackson put the kibosh on their unbeaten status with a 35-0 loss in the SEMO North Conference opener for both teams. Central must do a better job on offense against another unbeaten SEMO North opponent in the 3-0 Knights while contending with a formidable offense. Farmington has rolled up 48 points in each of its victories the past two weeks, outscoring North County and Hillsboro by a combined 96-6 score, after a 23-13 win over Union in the season opener. Pirate depth Perryville will host Fredericktown and it has been beset by injuries at skill positions over the last two weeks, first losing senior running back Eli Bierk for the season in a 51-0 win over St. James and then seeing his replacement, Drew Hotop, go down in a 34-20 loss to Potosi. Hotop will not be available for at least this week. Fredericktown has been trending upward since a 49-0 loss to unbeaten Kennett in its season opener. The Black Cats hung with Park Hills Central last week, falling by 12 points, after soundly defeating Herculaneum 34-0 in Week 2. How the Rams travel Will a consistently high-producing Scott City offense be able to deliver in the first road game for the Rams against a tougher opponent in Charleston? Scott City has churned out 49, 49 and 50 points at home in wins over Grandview, St. Vincent and East Prairie, respectively, teams with a combined 1-8 record. Charleston (2-1) encountered its lone loss in Week 2 to defending Class 1 state champion Hayti, a 36-7 win. The Bluejays prevailed over Portageville and Doniphan by an average of 30 points. More domination Jackson’s defense has recorded two shutouts in its three games, with only Parkway North finding the scoreboard thus far in the Indians’ 57-13 win in Week 2. The same is expected in hosting of Sikeston. Meanwhile, Sikeston’s lone success came in Week 1, a 24-18 win over Vashon. The Bulldogs have struggled on both sides of the ball since, getting blanked by McCluer North in Week 2 and surrendering 61 points to Poplar Bluff in Week 3. The Indians should have no problem improving to 2-0 in SEMO North Conference play at “The Pit.” A confident bunch of Indians Both St. Vincent and Herculaneum enter at 1-2, but since scoring seven points in its first six quarters of the season against Valle Catholic and Scott City, St. Vincent has posted 77 points over its past six quarters against Scott City and Kelly. “Herky” is at home and will be hungry to end a two-game losing streak and has held two of its opponents (Cuba and Jefferson) to 16 points or less, but must contend with Indians senior quarterback Garrett Dobbelare, who is coming off a career-high six TDs passing against Kelly. Herculaneum will have its eyes on junior receiver Blake Schnurbusch, who hauled in three of those TD passes.