The Bearcats are expecting a better showing tonight as they get back some key players. Senior, John Page will be back after going down in the second quarter of the season opener against the Ste. Genevieve Dragons.
Coach Aaron Pixley said, "Brad Wick and Ryan Joyner are a little banged up, but they are going to give it a go. We have fought injuries all season so if your starter can't go, it's simply the next man has to step up."
Fans can expect a tough match-up with the Indians tonight. Kennett comes into tonights game with a record of 0 and 4, with losses to Fredericktown, Portageville, NMCC and last week against Paragould 27-48.
"They are a very fast and athletic group of kids," commented Pixley.The Bearcats plan to counter the Indians speed is to stick to the DHS coaching staff's normal gameplan. You will always know that gameplan includes being physical at the point of attack and getting off their blocks quickly.
Kennett struggled last week with Paragould defensively and were unable to get the Rams offensive machine closed down. Paragould pounded the ball out with long sustaining drives.
Offensively, the Bearcats can expect a challenge from a very talented offensive quarterback in in Declan Wallace. Wallace went to the air last week against the Rams posting 9 completions on 15 attempts passing for a total of 158 yards. He is also quick and able to run the football gaining 180 yards on 25 attempts. Wallace had a total of 338 yards offense on the nights and 3 touchdowns, one passing and two rushing.
Another talent the 'Cats need to get a handle on tonight is the freshman
"playmaker", wide receiver Akeem Nelson. Nelson had four receptions for 116 yards and one touchdown last week.
Bearcat fans are encouraged to show up tonight at Charles Bland Stadium to watch great "friday night football action" as the Dexter Bearcats take on the Kennett Indians.
Top Photo: Coach Greg Lummakka is show instructing his Bearcats last week during the Caruthersville Tigers game.
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.
Jessica Snider SMT Writer
They did just that as they took the victory over Bell City in just two sets.
The first set was a close one, but Dexter walked away with a 25-21 defeat. During the second set, the Bearcats kept their opponent’s score to a minimum as they left town with a 25-12 upset over Bell City for the second set that ended the game.
The Bearcats will have a busy week next week as they are set to play three games. Monday the Bearcats will travel to Advance for the first game of the week. Dexter stays at home on Tuesday, as Leopold will come to town. Thursday night will wrap things up for the week with a game in the Bearcat Event Center against Sikeston.
All games will have a 6:00 P.M. start time with Junior Varsity playing first and Varsity following directly after.
Shown in the above photo is Sophomore Shyann Jines on defense ready to make a pass.
Stats from yesterday's game are provided below:
From an offensive standpoint, the story was nearly all Chase Young as he gave everything he had on the fields in hopes of his team finding a victory. His returns, his catches and even his rushing the football were near spectacular. For the second week in a row, Chase is undeniably the SMT Offensive Player of the Week for Week Four..
From a Defensive perspective, the Bearcats had a good performance as a team as they battled the ultra fast, ultra quick speed of the Tigers. It was a challenge for the 'Cats in the second half as big plays took over and created a lopsided victory for Caruthersville..
However, the play of Junior cornerback, Trevor Waldner was exceptional on the night as he ran down 12 tackles for the Bearcats. It has been a great addition to have Trevor in the lineup this season and he proved his value to the team with his performance last Friday night. For that, Trevor is honored as the Week Four SMT Defensive Player of the Week.
The ShowMe Times is proud to highlight the individual performance of two Dexter Bearcat Football student-athletes each week as the SMT Players of the Week. No one individual's contribution wins a game or makes the team strong. Yet the coordinated effort of many make for a winning combination.
Written by
Jessica Snider SMT Writer
It was beautiful weather as the Lady Bearcat Tennis team took on the Cape Central Tigers yesterday afternoon.
Varsity took the win with a big 7-1 victory over the tigers. Junior Varsity won the match as well with a 3-0 victory.
The number two match on varsity was not played due to an injury. Only one doubles team on junior varsity participated in doubles, as only two members of junior varsity participated in the singles portion of the match.
Despite a little change of the line up, both junior varsity and varsity left the match with big wins.
The closest match of the day was that of the number one singles between Dexter’s Cooper and Cape’s Tegel. After a hard fought match, Cooper pulled ahead with an 8-6 victory.
Shown in the above photo is left-handed MaryKate Miller returning a forehand to her opponent.
Results of yesterday’s match are shown below.
