Rachel Crader is the editor of semoball.com. She graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism in May of 2009 before spending the summer covering the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

Highlights from Rachel's days in college include having a class down the hall from Chase Daniel and having NCAA wrestling champion Ben Askren hold the door open for her at Brady Commons, Mizzou's student center. She spent time covering Mizzou basketball, softball and baseball while working for the Columbia Missourian and is excited to return home to Southeast Missouri to cover local sports for semoball.com.

Rachel has covered three Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournaments for the Southeast Missourian and semoball.com, and she'll see you courtside again this year.

Semoball football poll: Jackson back to No. 1, Chaffee joins

Posted Monday, September 23, 2013, at 12:56 PM

This poll is voted on by reporters, radio broadcasters and football fanatics around the region.

1. JACKSON (3-1, 37 points): Jackson struggled during the first half of its win against Poplar Bluff on Friday night, but the Indians regained the top spot from Sikeston thanks to a big second half and the Bulldogs' struggles against Farmington.

2. SIKESTON (4-0, 35 points): Sikeston stayed undefeated with a 21-14 win over Farmington on Friday, but the Bulldogs, fairly or not, were expected to win by a much larger margin. They will go on the road next week to Poplar Bluff, which dropped out of the rankings for the first time.

3. CARUTHERSVILLE (3-1, 20 points): Caruthersville moves up a spot in the rankings this week after a dominating victory over Dexter. The Tigers, state semifinalists a season ago, look poised to make another deep playoff run this season.

4. CENTRAL (1-3, 13 points): Central's lopsided loss to Fort Zumwalt East resulted in it dropping a spot in the rankings this week. The Tigers won't have much time to regroup with a trip to the raucous home field of rival Jackson coming up on Friday.

5. CHAFFEE (4-0, 9 points): The Red Devils are having their best start to the season since the 60s and now they join the rankings for the first time. Chaffee won easily again on Friday night against Portageville and will host rival Scott City as a big favorite on Friday night.

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It's good to see Chaffee doing good this year but I don't think they are a top 5 team in Semo. They've had arguably the easiest schedule in Semo playing Grandview,St.Puis,Hayti and Portageville. Their first tough game will be against Malden on the 11th. I would have Malden ahead of them at this point. They have played NMCC and Caruthersville and are 3-1. I would want to see Chaffee beat someone decent before I put them above Poplar Bluff, NMCC, or Malden. Other than that, list looks good to me.

-- Posted by Cheesehead. on Mon, Sep 23, 2013, at 1:21 PM
I agree Cheese. Chaffee's schedule gets tougher near the end of the season, and I would want to see how they do against those teams. The Malden game will be one of the big measuring sticks for them.

-- Posted by OldManFootball on Mon, Sep 23, 2013, at 2:17 PM
It is awesome that Chaffee has been successful so far but Poplar Bluff I think is clearly better. There's a large gap in competition level. I don't want to say Chaffee is like 2012 Portageville because I think they are more talented than that but I think it would be an apt comparison at this point.

-- Posted by sideline starter on Mon, Sep 23, 2013, at 2:26 PM
Chaffee is a better class 1 school than poplar bluff is class 5

-- Posted by ThayerPops on Mon, Sep 23, 2013, at 4:25 PM
That has nothing to do with the Semoball Top 5. At the end of the day, Poplar Bluff is better than Chaffee. This poll is about who the best teams in the Semoball coverage area are, not who competes better in their class.

-- Posted by Cheesehead. on Mon, Sep 23, 2013, at 4:33 PM
I think that's your opinion.. I really don't think if you asked anyone on the panel who is better out of Bluff and Chaffee that they'd actually tell you Chaffee. I think they are using some common sense.

-- Posted by ThayerPops on Mon, Sep 23, 2013, at 4:35 PM
You're right, it's just my opinion and I stand by what I said. I understand the pollster's have to show smaller schools some love. I was just stating my opinion that I don't think their top 5 material yet.

-- Posted by Cheesehead. on Mon, Sep 23, 2013, at 4:54 PM
and I don't think anybody does. only people that think they are better than Bluff would be the players and their parents.

-- Posted by ThayerPops on Mon, Sep 23, 2013, at 4:56 PM
Just for informational purposes...

Here are the MSHSAA member school enrollment numbers for the top five and a few others in the area. These are the sizes of the talent pools these schools have to work with.

1.Jackson-1504

2.Sikeston-1002

3.Caruthersville-343

4.Cape Central-1193

5.Chaffee-204

PB-1368

Ste. Gen-617

Dexter-568

Fredericktown-567

Kennett-564

Park Hills Central-558

NMCC-448

St. Pius-418

Grandview-327

Jefferson-322

Scott City-299

East Prairie-280

Malden-275

Charleston-274

Kelly-274

Hayti-219

Portageville-217

St. Vincent-203

Crystal City-200

Valle-179

Thayer-167

The last 2 show what hard work and good coaching can do......

-- Posted by pmstewert420 on Mon, Sep 23, 2013, at 6:16 PM
Cheesehead you have a valid point about teams chaffee has played up to now! Even tho I love a small semo team doing well its alittle soon, maybe should have never happened but as you say time will tell. The biggest improvement to Chaffee this year has been coach Payne ( the head coach of cape 3yrs ago when they went 10-1 I think) is the defensive cord of the devils this year. Been a huge difference, but won't know how much till last 3 games.

-- Posted by Stonecold on Mon, Sep 23, 2013, at 6:22 PM
I see no reason for Sikeston to fall out of the top spot. It really doesn't matter how much they beat Farmington by, they still won and shouldn't have been penalized for it.

I also agree that Chaffee is not a top 5 team yet. It's great to see them do so well, but their schedule has been relatively weak. Poplar Bluff or Malden should be ranked ahead of them. Nor am I convinced Cape Central should still be ranked. Yes, they have played a brutal schedule, but a top ranked team should win more than one game.

-- Posted by Preacher Man Fan on Mon, Sep 23, 2013, at 7:49 PM
Preach, besides the teams above them, I don't see anyone in SEMO beating any of the teams Cape lost to. You wanted to drop them out for the same thing last year when they didn't need to be.

-- Posted by sideline starter on Mon, Sep 23, 2013, at 8:10 PM
Sideline, it seems like we have this friendly debate on SOS vs. record every year. Yes at one point I did think Cape needed to be dropped from the top 5 last season, but by the end of the year they had redeemed themselves and earned their way back in. History may repeat itself this season, but we're talking about whether or not Cape belongs in the Top 5 right now. How many games can a team loose and still be ranked?

Dexter's schedule has been every bit as brutal as Cape's so far. Cape has won one more game than Dexter has. Should Dexter be ranked in the Top 5? Of course not. Why then Cape?

-- Posted by Preacher Man Fan on Mon, Sep 23, 2013, at 9:15 PM
Dexter's schedule has been tough but Cape's has been much more difficult. Played last year's Class 3 runner-up, an unbeaten Class 5 team, a pretty good Class 4 team, and Poplar Bluff. They won one of the games (against a team that smoked Dexter), barely lost another, and the other two were losses that I believe any other team in SEMO would also lose to besides the teams ranked above Cape. This poll says who the best five teams are. Not the five who have looked best against their schedules. If Team A were to play Team B, who would have a better chance of winning? That team deserves to be higher ranked and not penalized because they have played a more difficult set of opponents.

-- Posted by sideline starter on Mon, Sep 23, 2013, at 9:28 PM
Three of the four schools Dexter has played were ranked in the Top 10 of their respective classes when we played them. That includes Caruthersville who was a final four team in Class 2 last season. The other team was a Class 5 school in Poplar Bluff. So to say Cape's schedule is much more difficult is a stretch to me. Now clearly Cape is a better team than Dexter. But my point was to show that at some point actual wins have to trump SOS.

At the end of the day, Cape is 1-3 and has been blown out in 2 of their 3 losses. Even granted that those losses were to very good teams, does that make them a top 5 team? I myself question if it does.

-- Posted by Preacher Man Fan on Mon, Sep 23, 2013, at 10:00 PM
Everyone talking about chaffee not deserving of top five. I disagree chaffee is a 1A school just because we dont have 100 players don't make them less of a team. I believe chaffee will beat malden amd charleston buts is just my biast opinion. We have the talent but most of all we have team that really wants it this year. And for the one making the comment about coach payne this isnt his first year with chaffee.

-- Posted by footballmomof2 on Mon, Sep 23, 2013, at 11:14 PM
Really Chaffee in and PB out. WOW!!

-- Posted by BIGELW on Tue, Sep 24, 2013, at 7:00 AM
I'm telling you all.. there is no way it's based off who is actually the best team.. nobody in thermite right mind would pick Chaffee over bluff

-- Posted by ThayerPops on Tue, Sep 24, 2013, at 7:14 AM
Dang NMCC will be class 2 before you know it.

-- Posted by BuckMajor on Tue, Sep 24, 2013, at 11:06 AM
All due respect to coach Payne because I think he's a good coach and has added a lot to the Chaffee program, but the biggest reason for Chaffee's success has to be attributed to the return of Peyton Montgomery. Kid is a stud.

-- Posted by semohoops on Tue, Sep 24, 2013, at 11:32 AM
he only missed one game last year.. the St. Pius game and Chaffee would have won that game with no contest with him. I don't know why all the previews made it look like he missed the season.

-- Posted by ThayerPops on Tue, Sep 24, 2013, at 11:36 AM
Beg pardon, I mean Charlie Montgomery. He's back healthy for the team. Peyton is a year older and a year better. I'm happy for Coach Vickery. He's got them rolling so far. Hopefully they can make some noise came district time.

-- Posted by semohoops on Tue, Sep 24, 2013, at 1:36 PM
In my opinin, Cape Central, with now 5 Jacksonians on the coaching staff and a few breaks, could possibly beat the top 3 teams in the poll and would beat chaffee 10 times out of 10. Poplar Bluff would beat Chaffee 8 of 10. It is just too early to tell. Turnovers or a key injury could affect the outcome of a game. How deep is Chaffee's bench? I'm pretty sure P.B would rout the 4 teams Chaffee has played, who doesn't.

-- Posted by theprof on Tue, Sep 24, 2013, at 2:09 PM
I don't think this poll is based on the size ,class or enrollment of a school, or who they play. It's based on a performance and execution of the game on both sides of the ball as a team, regardless of the oppenent. Of course bluff would probably beat Chaffee.

-- Posted by Chuck407 on Tue, Sep 24, 2013, at 2:47 PM
PB= 1368 students

Chaffee= 204 students

LOL! Someone needs to clarify what this poll is based on. Do you really think it is based on a head to head comparison? That's funny! Chuck407 has it figured out......

-- Posted by pmstewert420 on Tue, Sep 24, 2013, at 2:58 PM
I respect very much the schedule that Jackson and Cape play but I would like to see some of the bigger schools from the area play teams like Paducah Tilghman, Blytheville, Carbondale, Dyersburgh, E. St. Louis, teams from Memphis or Little Rock (and/or schools of similiar size), etc., on a yearly basis (as they do in basketball for example) for state comparison reasons and such. I read somewhere on the internet that Paducah Tilgman and Mayfield, KY are listed on a list of schools with most wins in football history nationwide. I have noticed that Webb and Jeff. City travel good distances to compete against good teams yearly and they are not private schools. I would like for some of the bigger schools in our area to try this. I think that these polls are simply for fun in the area as we all know that a larger school will more than likely defeat a smaller school...

-- Posted by STRAIGHTOUTTACHARLESTON on Tue, Sep 24, 2013, at 3:13 PM
It's the order of the best five teams in SEMO. I believe that would be based on the hypothetical head-to-head of each SEMO team. Perhaps a couple of voters decided to reward merit, achievement, or being on a winning streak instead but I disagree with that.

-- Posted by sideline starter on Tue, Sep 24, 2013, at 4:07 PM
I'm with Sideline on this one. If I am considering a top 5, with any kind of competition, not just football, I want the five best teams. That means who would win in a head to head game. It's no disrespect to Chaffee or the other smaller schools but it's just the way it is. I'm from Caruthersville and I support Caruthersville who has a census of about 340 kids, so it's not like I'm being bias toward the larger schools. Caruthersville and Valle has proven themselves in Semo as being some top teams on a yearly basis. I just don't think Chaffee has done anything or beat anyone yet to warrant their #5 ranking. They will find out what top teams play like when they see Valle later this year, assuming they make it there. We went through this with Portageville last year and they saw what a top team can do. It's still a long season, anything can happen!

-- Posted by Cheesehead. on Tue, Sep 24, 2013, at 4:33 PM
I don't see any Chaffee people boasting like the Bulldog faithful did.

-- Posted by ThayerPops on Tue, Sep 24, 2013, at 7:23 PM
That I would agree with you on.

-- Posted by Cheesehead. on Tue, Sep 24, 2013, at 8:24 PM
You all are the montgomerys are great players but last time i checked it takes the whole team to get a victory. Besides that there are a few more players that deserve credit for these wins. This is the reason chaffee is winning it is because we are playing as a team.

-- Posted by footballmomof2 on Tue, Sep 24, 2013, at 8:25 PM
Most, if not all, polls conducted on all levels are ranked in the order of who the best teams are, not who is having the best season relative to their competition. You don't see an undefeated Murray State team being ranked ahead of a 5 loss Duke or Kentucky for example in hoops. Or in college football, you wouldn't see an undefeated Kent State being ranked over a 2 or 3 loss Alabama. There are exceptions of course, but a general rule of thumb you wouldn't see it.

-- Posted by semohoops on Tue, Sep 24, 2013, at 8:55 PM
I disagree hoops. We are talking football and if we use colleges as examples aren't there different polls for Div 1, Div 2, Div 3, NAIA??? I'm not sure so someone help out here please.....

-- Posted by pmstewert420 on Tue, Sep 24, 2013, at 9:02 PM
Agreed. I can dig it (in agreement with IliketheHawks). Ex: I would like to see Jackson vs Paducah Tilghman (playing schools more their size) over Jackson vs Chaffee (playing smaller schools to build up wins). Of course they are going to have a nice looking record if they decide upon the latter but in college teams are somewhat penalize for lack of competition/strength of schedule (as semohoops opined). I understand that in high school it is more financially feasible to play teams closer to you, but...

-- Posted by STRAIGHTOUTTACHARLESTON on Tue, Sep 24, 2013, at 9:57 PM
*penalized*

-- Posted by STRAIGHTOUTTACHARLESTON on Tue, Sep 24, 2013, at 9:58 PM
I would like to see all rivalry games continued, may I add.

-- Posted by STRAIGHTOUTTACHARLESTON on Tue, Sep 24, 2013, at 10:05 PM
Yes, there are polls used in all those different college levels. But on the Division I level, you have your smaller conferences like the MAC and the Sun Belt. My point is, in general you're not going to see an undefeated Kent State or an undefeated Arkansas State team be ranked against a 3 loss LSU team.

-- Posted by semohoops on Tue, Sep 24, 2013, at 10:07 PM
North St. Francois County

St. John Vianney

Farmington

Poplar Bluff

Cape Central

Sikeston

Battle (Columbia)

David H. Hickman

Francis Howell Central

Since Jackson was used as an example this is their schedule for this season. They play the historically better and bigger schools from SEMO during the middle of their season. Play a very good Vianney team week two, then play Battle and Class 6 Hickman from Columbia and end the year at Class 6 Francis Howell Central.

None of these schools are world changers, but its not like they're going out playing Class 2 schools and winning by 50 every Friday night

-- Posted by semo501 on Fri, Sep 27, 2013, at 11:04 PM

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