Caruthers is everywhere, on every play, for the dominant Tigers

Caruthersville High School junior defensive lineman Jermaine Caruthers (50) pursues the quarterback in a recent game at Hayti High School.

Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com

CARUTHERSVILLE – When Caruthersville High School football player Jermaine Caruthers walks out of the locker room and onto the field, he needs to be physically and mentally ready to roll because he ain’t going to get another moment to rest until the final horn sounds.

“He’s our kicker, first and foremost,” third-year Tiger coach Dom Guglielmo said of his junior three-way athlete. “He’s a phenomenal offensive lineman (and) he’s a phenomenal defensive lineman.”

Caruthers does it all for Class 2 No. 7-ranked Caruthersville, which has an opportunity tonight to wrap up its most successful regular season in 11 years.

The Tigers (7-1) won the SEMO Conference South Division title this year with a spotless 5-0 mark and will host Ste. Genevieve (5-3) at 7 p.m. on Hopke Field.

As a sophomore, the 5-foot-10, 240-pound beast was an All-SEMO Conference First Team selection as a defensive lineman.

“He has a motor on him,” Guglielmo said. “He shrugs off mistakes really well.”

Not that Caruthers makes many.

He and Tiger junior linebacker Jackson Napier combined for 10 tackles for a loss in last week’s 55-20 throttling of Portageville.

“He plays within the framework of his abilities,” Guglielmo said. “He is able to scrape from, basically, the contained player, so from the end of the tackle to the sideline, he’s dangerous.”

Caruthersville High School junior kicker Jermaine Caruthers boots an extra point against Charleston earlier this season in Charleston. (Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com)

Caruthers has tallied 54 tackles this season and been a key to Caruthersville having its most stifling defensive average (15.4 points allowed per game) since 2010.

“You get that kid on a pass rush,” Guglielmo said, “I mean, he runs a 4.8 or 4.7 (40-yard dash). He’s fast and strong. He’s athletic.”

Offensively, Caruthers has led the way for the top rusher in the SEMO Conference (Tiger junior Sammy Bryant), who has gained over 1,400 yards and averages 8.4 yards every time he touches the ball.

The Caruthersville offense is averaging nearly 39 points per game this fall, which is the most by the program in five seasons.

As impressive as Caruthers is ON the field, those at his school rave about him OFF it.

Both Caruthersville School District 18 Superintendent Brad Gerling and his wife, Tara, watched the Tigers from the end zone during their recent Homecoming victory over Portageville and raved about him.

“Jermaine is a great kid,” Tara said. “He is very respectful.”

Guglielmo couldn’t agree more.

“He is awesome in the (school) building,” Guglielmo said. “We get more compliments about him than anybody. There is never a concern that Jermaine isn’t going to be the best kid ever.”