Football rankings are out, and a look ahead to the weekend

Jackson and Thayer debuted in state football rankings released today by the state's sports media.

In Class 5, Jackson (5-0) debuted at No. 5 heading into the Indians' annual rivalry game Thursday against Cape Girardeau Central at Houck Stadium.

In Class 4, Farmington is No. 4 after a 42-0 defeat of Sikeston.

In Class 1, Hayti is No. 4 and Thayer No. 9, both of them 5-0.

Three Southeast Missouri team received votes this week: Crystal City, Festus and Park Hills Central.

• If you haven't checked out the photo galleries from Friday night's high school football, click onto our home page for three galleries from Friday night. Keith Hente shot the Farmington-Sikeston matchup, Jake Kreulen was at the North County-Poplar Bluff overtime game, and Al Jones photographed Hayti's win at Charleston.

On each gallery page, click the link to the photographer's e-mail address to get information on ordering high-resoluation reprints of individual photos.

• The local short-track racing season is winding down quickly, but two local tracks are finishing the season with a bang this weekend.

At Farmington, St. Francois County Raceway expects a big field of sprint cars for its annual Queen's Royale, which rewards its winner $5,000 on Saturday. To the south, Malden Speedway hosts two days of racing Thursday and Friday with a full schedule of events each night, topped by late model and modified racing both nights.