ROLLA - After a sluggish first half the Missouri S&T Lady Miners turned up the heat in the second stanza of its exhibition contest with Central Methodist winning 64-32 on Saturday night in Rolla.

Both sides struggled to shoot the ball in the opening as S&T connected on only 36 percent of its attempts while Central Methodist made just 28 percent.

The Lady Miners trailed 12-10 with 10:33 to go in the first half before going on a 9-1 run to regain the lead.

The Eagles tied it at 21-21 with just over five minutes to play on a three from Dalyn Collins.

S&T ended the half strong scoring the last six of the frame to head into the locker room with a 27-21 lead.

The Lady Miners continued to struggle on the offensive end early in the second and CMU was able to take advantage scoring the first five points to cut the lead to 27-26 three minutes in.

Hailee Parks and Courtney Kemp scored back-to-back buckets extending the lead back to five at the 14:09 mark.

Alexa Fox made a jumper at the 13:28 mark to make it 31-28. That would be the closest Central Methodist got the rest of the night. S&T proceeded to put the game away with runs of 13-0 and 18-0 sandwiched around three points from the Eagles.

The Lady Miners held CMU to just one point in the final nine minutes of the contest.

S&T shot 48 percent from the floor in the second half to finish the night at 42 percent (24-for-57). The Lady Miners outrebounded the Eagles by a 39-to-33 margin while forcing 29 turnovers.

S&T had the edge in the paint scoring 34 points to just for CMU and turned those 29 turnovers into 30 points.

Karli Sample led the way for the Lady Miners with 13 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Toni Knar and Parks had nine and eight points respectively.

Dexter native Katelyn Heil finished the night shooting 2-5 from the floor (1-3 from three-point range), and totaled 5 points in the contest.

S&T will open its season against Park University on Thursday, November 17, at 7 p.m., at the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.  

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Missouri S&T is a four-year, NCAA Division II school, located in Rolla, Mo.

2009 DHS Alums Katelyn and Cathryn Heil are both members of the S&T Women's basketball team.

For more information on everything Miners Athletics, visit sports.mst.edu.

BOLIVAR - The SBU Bearcats football team had a tough match-up against the team who received the 26th most votes in nation, Missouri Western, and came up just short in the contest, dropping the thrilling SBU homecoming game 34-21. Dan Connors had two touchdowns passes, and Thad Everson had one rushing touchdown, but it wasn't enough for the Bearcats to overcome the Griffons.

SBU was able to jump out to an early 7-0 lead off of a rushing touchdown by Thad Everson from the four yard line. The 31 yard drive was set up by a fumble recovery by the SBU defense. Missouri Western responded by scoring back-to-back touchdowns to take a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter. However, SBU responded when Dan Connors hit Charles Johnson from three yards out to tie the game up at 14-14. Missouri Western would add a 23 yard field goal before half, giving them a 17-14 halftime lead.

SBU was able to come out of the locker room and put up three more points, tying the game at 17-17 with 8:00 left in the third quarter. However, Missouri Western responded by scoring two more touchdowns to take a 31-17 lead late in the third quarter. The SBU offense wasn't done though, when Dan Connors hit Marcus Sullivan 20 yards out for an SBU touchdown at the 9:53 mark, pulling SBU within 7, 31-24. The Bearcats defense came up big with a huge interception by Austin Otwell, but the Bearcats couldn't find the endzone to tie the game up.

Connors threw for around 200 yards, and two touchdowns, hitting four different receivers during the game. SBU had two players in double digit tackles, with Zach Moore and Chris Hawkins both collecting over 10 tackles. Moore also added one sack in game.

The Bearcats will be back in action on Saturday, November 5 when they host Emporia State. Kickoff is set for 2:00 p.m. from Plaster Stadium in Bolivar.

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Southwest Baptist University is a four-year evangelical Christian university that was established in 1878. The main campus is located about 30 minutes north of Springfield, Missouri, in Bolivar, a town of approximately 10,000 people.

DHS alum Glen Johnson is a defensive lineman for the Bearcats.

For more information on SBU Bearcat Athletics, visit sbubearcats.com.

BOLIVAR - The Southwest Baptist University football team will continues to get national recognition this season, and have currently received the 38th most votes in the latest AFCA Division II Coaches Poll released earlier this week. SBU received three votes, and is the fourth consecutive week the Bearcats have received votes. The Bearcats will be hosting the Missouri Western Griffons in SBU’s Homecoming game this weekend. The Bearcats will be looking for their fourth straight Homecoming Day victory.

The SBU offense is lead by junior quarterback Dan Connors who has thrown for 1400 with eight touchdowns over the first eight games of the season. Connors has a completion percentage of 65.7% and is averaging 200 yards passing per game this season. Thad Everson leads all Bearcat rushers with 532 rushing yards and four touchdowns, while averaging 60.6 yards per game, and Charles Johnson leads the Bearcat receivers with 515 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 64.4 yards per game.

The Bearcat defense is lead by Zach Moore who has recorded team highs in tackles (66) and tackles for loss (4.5) this season. As a team, the Bearcats have wrapped up 13 sacks, picked off 10 passes, recovered 8 fumbles, and blocked 6 kicks on the season.

The Bearcats are off to the best start in school history, and look to move to 7-2 on the season with a victory over Missouri Western this Saturday. The game is set to kick off at 2:00 p.m. from Bolivar, Missouri.

The Coaches

Keith Allen has already engineered a significant turnaround at SBU, moving the ‘Cats from 0-11 his first year as interim coach, to 5-6 in 2008, to the winning record of 6-5 in 2009, and followed up with a 7-4 record in 2010. Allen served as defensive and recruiting coordinator before being named SBU head coach in 2007. His past coaching experience has included stops at San Jose State, Quincy, TCU and Oklahoma.

Jerry Partridge is in his 15th season as the head coach at Missouri Western State University. In Partridge’s fourteen previous seasons at Missouri Western, he has lead his team to an overall record of 103-59.

Scouting the Griffons

The Griffons enter into this weekend with a 6-2 record, coming off of a 45-7 win against Truman State University.

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Southwest Baptist University is a four-year evangelical Christian university that was established in 1878. The main campus is located about 30 minutes north of Springfield, Missouri, in Bolivar, a town of approximately 10,000 people.

DHS alum Glen Johnson is a defensive lineman for the Bearcats.

For more information on SBU Bearcat Athletics, visit sbubearcats.com.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

For the first time in over 20 years, the Dexter Bearcats have won back-to-back District Championships with a 35-0 win against the Fredericktown Black Cats. The Bearcat offense racked up 396 yards in the contest, while the defense pitched a shutout and held the Black Cats to 181 yards of total offense.

Head coach Aaron Pixley was very excited with his team’s performance in the game.

“We gave up a few big runs early in the game, but we had a good stop down inside the 10 yard line,” he said. “We got the ball and did a good job of taking down the field and scoring, and then we got rolling.”

The Bearcats prolific running attack was somewhat slowed by Fredericktown’s defense, with 204 yards on the ground, but the air attack of the Bearcats was able to pick apart the Black Cats’ man-to-man coverage.

“Fredericktown’s very physical; they do some things that are tough to overcome, and we had to make some adjustments in the running game on offense,” Pixley noted. “Our passing game was excellent tonight as well. We had some good match-ups out there, and we spread the ball around pretty good. Tyler [Miller], Jake [Lee], Chase [Young], and Cody [Neldon] all did a good job of making plays when they caught the football. The offensive line protected well for the most part, and Cody threw the ball on the money as good as he has all year. ”

“Our running backs had to make adjustments on the fly,” he continued. “We did a good job of setting the edge with fullbacks, and both tailbacks did a good job of getting out there. Josh [Overall], Nick [Summers], and Cody [Stevens] out there making that adjustment in the running game, that’s a credit to them.”


The ‘Cats were led offensively by quarterback Cody Stevens; the senior was 9-15 for 192 yards and 2 touchdowns through the air, and he also racked up 157 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown on the ground.

“We played good tonight. I give Fredericktown’s defense props - they stopped the run, so we had to break out the pass,” Stevens said. “We passed pretty good tonight, and that’s how it has to be. They were playing man the whole night - you could see it every play. They didn’t roll a safety over the top all night, so we just ran ins and outs all night against it.”

Tyler Miller led the Bearcats’ receiving corps with 109 yards on 4 catches and 1 touchdown. Junior Chase Young had 2 catches for 37 yards and a touchdown.

“We played pretty good tonight,” Miller said. “Defense made some really big stops, especially in the red zone during the first half, we just played really well all four quarters. We thought coming into this game we’d be able to pass well. We scouted their defense, and saw that they did a lot of man coverage - we like [throwing against] that.”


The Bearcat defense, putting up their second shutout of the year, and fifth game holding opponents to seven points or less, were led by linebacker Zach Watson with 10 total tackles, while Nick Summers racked up 7 tackles.


The ‘Cats won the turnover battle again this week, with 4 takeaways. Summers recovered 2 fumbles, one of which he forced, while Ryan Joyner and Cody Neldon both picked off Fredericktown quarterback Jeremy Gremminger.

“Defensively, I think we played better and better as the game went on, and we did a great job of holding them to no points,” Pixley said.


The ‘Cats have officially broken three records this season: points scored in a season, with 448; rushing yardage, with 2,967; and total yards per game, with a 434.2 yard average. The ‘Cats also had a nine win season for the first time in Coach Pixley’s 12 year tenure.

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“It’s very difficult to go undefeated in football, it’s very difficult to win nine games. For these boys to win nine games, it’s a credit to their hard work and sacrifice this season, and over the last few years,” Pixley said. “Nothing is easy in this game - we’re not perfect. I still think we can be a better football team, but at the same time, they have done a great job of staying together and executing on both sides of the ball and special teams. I’m very proud of them - they’re District Champions, and they deserve it.”


With the win, the Bearcats sealed home-field advantage next week, when they host the runner-up from District 2, the Park Hills Central Rebels.


The Bearcats already hold a 37-27 win over PHC in the second week of the season, but Pixley noted them as being a much-improved team.

“We’ll host Park Hills next week,” he said. “They’re a big, strong, physical team. We’re going to have to play well to win it. There are no more easy games; everything is do or die. If you win, you keep going; if you lose, you go home.”

Stevens reflected his coaches attitude about the Rebels after the game, but noted his desire to carry the team to more than a District Championship.

”It’s special - it’s always special, especially since it’s my senior year,” he said, “but I’m not satisfied yet. I want to get another win, get some more wins and keep going. I want to see how far we can get. I’m not satisfied yet.”


The ‘Cats will host Park Hills Central next Wednesday (Nov. 2) night in the opening round of the playoffs. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

For a full breakdown of the game’s stats, click here.


For the complete stats from the 2011 Bearcat Football season, click here.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

Undoubtedly by now you’ve all heard that Game 6 of the World Series was postponed to tonight due to inclement weather in the St. Louis area.

Jaime Garcia will still get the start for the Redbirds, while the Rangers plan to stick with Colby Lewis.


I know what most of you are thinking when you heard the news yesterday: Dang, I wanted to watch the Cardinals tonight!, and I’m right there with you.

However, once I sat down and thought about it, I like this for two reasons.

#1 - Throughout the postseason, on nights that the Cardinals have had games during a Bearcat Football game, the Redbirds are undefeated.

Tonight, the Bearcats take on Fredericktown in the Class 3, District 1 Championship game. 
Call me superstitious, but we’re talking about a Tony La Russa ballclub here. The guy wears more necklaces than Flavor Flav, and has a pregame routine that some would call nothing short of insane. La Russa still hasn’t taken off a necklace given to him by renowned guitarist Carlos Santana right before the Cardinals’ August/September run to the playoffs. Superstition means nothing to him - it’s a way of life.

#2 - This gives Chris Carpenter another day's rest if there is a Game 7.

Carp pitched in Game 5 on Monday, and expressed a desire to go on the mound in Game 7.


La Russa planned to pitch Kyle Lohse in Game 7, and he hasn’t said anything regarding bumping Lohse out and putting in Carpenter - but I think he will.

Carp threw on short rest for the first time in his MLB career during Game 2 of the NLDS, and he struggled during that start.

"I chalk up (the short-rest struggles) to two things. One, mechanically I wasn't very good," Carpenter said in an interview with Derrick Gould of stltoday.com. "Two, being the first time, my stuff wasn't as sharp. You learn from that experience. What I learned from that is when it's not as sharp it's almost like that day because I felt physically good I was trying to pitch like I do on my fifth day. Instead of realizing, ‘Wait a minute, this is a day that my stuff is not as sharp, so we've got to make stuff up to get through these things.' Make sure you back off instead of put more on.

"I think that was just the situation," he concluded. "That's something that I could take into the next time if it ever happens again."

These are just my thoughts on the matter, but I want to know what you think!

What do you think about the postponement?
Do you think the Redbirds will force a winner-take-all Game 7, and why? Let us know on our Facebook or Twitter page, or send me an email at acato@showmetimes.com!