Thursday night at Charles Bland Stadium the Middle School Bearcats took the field in a pair of contests against the visiting Kennett Indians. The 8th Grade Cats lost a high scoring affair by the final of 52-34. The 7th grade contest ended with the Bearcats suffering a loss by the score of 44-6.
The 8th Grade Bearcats came out strong in the first quarter, looking to avenge a 60 point loss last season to the same Kennett squad.
In the first quarter, both teams put on an offensive show, combining for 40 total points in the opening frame. The two teams went on to score a total of 86 points in the game.
On Kennett's opening drive, a hard hit by Jason Jarrell forced a fumble that was recovered by Dexter's Justin Bess on the Kennett 40 yard line. The Bearcats wasted no time in capitalizing on the turnover, as Jarrell connected with Zach Potts on a 36 yard TD pass. Jarrell hooked up with Blake Palmer on a screen pass for the succesfull 2 point conversion, and the Bearcats took an early 8-0 lead.
The Indians responded quickly, scoring on long runs of 65 yards and 40 yards to take a 12-8 lead midway through the opening quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Bearcats Jason Jarrell streaked down the sideline and found the end zone on an 85 yard kickoff return for a touchdown. The extra point failed, but the Bearcats found themselves back on top by the score of 14-12.
Kennett bounced right back, finding success in their running game. After driving deep into Bearcat territory, Kennett QB Kyle Joyner swept around the right side, finding the end zone and pushing the Indians back into the lead by the score of 20-12.
Finding rushing yards hard to come by, the Bearcats put the ball back in the air. Dexter QB Jason Jarrell connected with Payton Tinnin on a 25 yard pass play that set up a 6 yard TD run by Gavin Northcutt, knotting the score 20-20 at the end of a very exciting first quarter of play.
In the 2nd quarter, the Kennett defense came up big, forcing 3 consecutive turnovers by the Bearcats (fumble, interception, interception) and held the Bearcats scoreless in the 2nd quarter. Kennett made the most of the turnovers, returning the fumble and one of the interceptions back for touchdowns. At halftime, the Indians had extended their lead to 38-20.
To open the 3rd quarter, Dexter's QB Jason Jarrell quickly got the Bearcats right back in the game. He returned the second half kickoff 37 yards, and then later in the series he galloped down the field for 23 more yards, setting up a 2 yard touchdown run. The 2 point conversion failed, but the Bearcats had narrowed the Kennett lead to 12 points.
The final period opened with an 8 yard TD run by Kennett's Joyner, extending the Indians lead to 46-26. However, the Bearcats did not give up. Following back-to-back pass completions by Jarrell of 34 and 27 yards, the Bearcats quickly moved deep into Kennett territory. This great offensive scoring drive was capped off with a 5 yd TD rush by Jarrell and the Kennett lead was reduced to 46-34.
Late in the game, Kennett QB Joyner placed an exclamation point on the victory by sweeping right and accelerating down the sideline for a 55 yard touchdown run. The score capped off an impressive rushing attack from the Indians, as they finished the game with over 250 yards gained on the ground.
The Bearcats were led in offensive production by Jason Jarrell, who finished with 2 rushing TD's, 1 passing TD, and a kickoff returned for a TD. Jarrell finished with 5 of 11 passing for a total of 123 yards. Payton Tinnin led the team with 52 yards receiving on 2 catches. The Bearcats were led in rushing by Bryce Simmons, who amassed 37 yards on 7 carries. Simmons, who normally plays TE, ran the ball very effectively.
With the loss, the 8th grade Bearcats move to 0-2 on the season.
In 7th grade action, the Kennett rushing attack was too much for the Cats to overcome, and the Indians came away with a victory in the opening game.
Kennett scored 4 times in the first half on rushing plays of 2, 40, 24 and 22 yards. After an impressive first half from the offense, the Indians went into the locker room with a 28-0 lead at the break.
The lone Bearcat score came in the third quarter when Dexter QB Nick Trout found Clayton Riddle over the middle, and Riddle outran the Kennett secondary on his way to a 72 yard TD.
In the second half the game plan for Kennett remained the same. They were able to use their size advantage and quickness to run the ball effectively inside and out. They Indians picked up two more rushing touchdowns in the second half that covered 5 and 55 yards respectively. With the loss, the 7th grade Bearcats move to 0-3 on the season.
The Middle School Bearcats football teams will be back in action next Thursday night, as both teams look to pick up their first win of the season against the Chaffee Red Devils. The 7th grade action is sceduled to start at 5pm, followed immediately by the 8th grade game.
