FOOTBALL FRIDAY: Tigers at Pittsburg -- An early clash of SEK contenders

Tonight, the Southeast Kansas League's best-scoring defense will face off against the SEK's best defense at preventing scoring.

Pittsburg (2-0 SEK and overall) has scored 103 points this season, including a somewhat surprising 55 points in the season opener against Coffeyville on Sept. 5 and 41 at Independence last week. Fort Scott (1-0, 2-0) has allowed just 13 points this season, one more than the Purple Dragons, who shut out the Bulldogs last Friday.

Oddly, both schools are the only teams in the SEK on the positive side in scoring margin this season. Pittsburg is winning by 44 1/2 points per game and Fort Scott by 22. Coffeyville, still trying to make up for being routed by the Dragons, is the third-best team with a minus-2 scoring margin.

The long-time rivals meet in an early battle of league contenders at Pittsburg's Hutchinson Field at 7 p.m. Friday night. It's too early for the victor to clinch even a share of the SEK title, but that team will control its own destiny as the league's only remaining unbeaten team.

The last two seasons have seen the visiting team winning. Pittsburg won at Fort Scott, 33-20, last season. The Tigers won the last game played in Pittsburg, 41-20, in 2012.

A key player for the Purple Dragons -- perhaps the best player in the entire SEK --is tailback/linebacker Alex Barnes (6' 0", 215, Sr.), who has been getting looks from four-year colleges since he was a sophomore. Last season, he rushed for 1,348 yards and finished second in the league in touchdowns (25) and total points (156) even though he played in only nine games as Pittsburg didn't make the playoffs. LaDarrius Johnson of Coffeyville (26 TD, 160 points) led in both categories but also had five playoff games to add to his totals.

Barnes is the SEK's leading scorer after two weeks with 6 touchdowns and 42 points. No one else in the SEK has more than 3 TDs or 22 points after two weeks.

Fort Scott may have one advantage in keeping the ball away from Barnes. Junior kicker Brody Southwell has booted four touchbacks on kickoffs this season and if his big leg can keep sending it into the end zone -- touchbacks in high school football are automatic --the Tiger defense gets good field position each time out and Barnes can't strike quickly. Southwell is also the leading scorer by kicking in the SEK --15th overall -- with 2 field goals and 5 extra points. His 31-yard field goal against Spring Hill was the longest by a Tiger since Oct. 12, 2007 and also made him the first Fort Scott player to kick two in a game since Oct. 5, 2007. Luke Halsey was the Tiger who last accomplished each of those feats.

Since 1895, when Fort Scott's program played its first season, Tiger teams have played Pittsburg more than any other. This lists every school which Fort Scott has played at least 80 times.

(a) -- Fort Scott and Pittsburg had a second meeting in 1895 which ended in a 0-0 tie.

(b) -- Includes this year's meeting.

In addition, this rivalry has featured four of the Southeast Kansas League's six best coaches since the 1954 season and ten of the league's top 15 coaches since 1947. Among them are:

Coaching records of Campbell and Zogg include this season.

Current Pittsburg head coach Tom Nickelson has a record of 19-10-0 (.655) but is not yet eligible to be included on the list because he has not coached three full seasons.