New Madrid, MO - The Dexter 6th Grade Football Traveling team went to New Madrid this week to take on an evenly matched group of 6th Graders.  The 6th Grade Bearcats were unable to get enough points on the scoreboard to win the game and lost to New Madrid by a score of 16 to 14.

The inspired idea of pulling these young men together as a traveling team following the end of their normal DPR season was under the hope of building a team spirit.  Having played the entire DPR season split up over four different teams, this traveling team allowed each athlete to begin to determine their role for next years middle school season.

The team had three outings with a jamboree style outing in Portageville, a weekend game against the Cape Girardeau Man Machine and this final game against New Madrid.  The team was overall competitive and looks to have a good group of core athletes that will bring promise to the DMS program the next two years and ultimately to Coach Aaron Pixley's high school program.

"This is a great group of athletes and it was our pleasure to be able to work with them," commented coach Darrin Hillis. 

"We simply wanted to begin to raise the expecations of these young men to higher levels for their future as Bearcats," Coach Hedrick added.  "They should be a fun group to watch."

Seth Rogers continued his dashing running skills against New Madrid, with strong runs behind his big offensive line.  This age group is anchored with highly talented young men that have some size.  These athletes could possibly play other positions but have quickly learned the importance of an offensive line to the success of the offense. 

Big Luke Boyer and Garrison Collier are obvious lineman with a great size and strength for the position.  They are madman in there.  Brock Simmons, Hunter Lawrence and James Robinson that are tremendous athletes that are agile and quick and able to play anywhere on the field.  These kids did a great job of taking on the role of the offensive line during the traveling season.

The team alternated between quarterbacks Joe Rice and Nate Gargis, with each athlete bringing different talents to the position.  Corbin Strong also added some strong runs from his fullback position.

Braxton Foster highlighted the night with a second touchdown of the young Bearcats team with a 15-yard pass over the middle of the New Madrid defense.  He had a couple of catches on the night, proving that he has a good set of hands to add to the air-game of the future.

Defensively, Luke Boyer was crashing and bashing his way into the backfield giving the New Madrid team all they wanted up front.  Garrison Collier and James Robinson also added to the rush provided by the 'Cats during the contest.  Hunter Lawrence played well at his middle linebacker position. 

Exceptional play was given by the teams defensive end core of Colby Powers and Braxton Foster.  A position that requires athletes to be more responsible than to simply attack, these two players were noted as two that understood their job and got the job done this season.

A surprise on the night was Travis Propst.  Travis is an excellent kicker but his aggressive play during this weeks practice earned him a chance to sub in at the defensive line and linebacker positions, where he had an excellent performance.

Overall, the 'Cats performed well against New Madrid but a few big plays allowed the young New Madrid team to gain a lead and maintain it, winning by the narrow margin of 2 points. 

"We were very happy with the boys as we accomplished what we wanted to in this short season," noted Brett Dorton.  "These kids are young but very talented.  Our goal was to gel them as a team, increase their skills and I think we did that."

Special thanks to Loyd Rice, who played a major role in organizing the games and the practices for the team.  Loyd also acknowledged the support of Jamie Rowe and Dexter Parks and Rec.  The team was able to continue to use their uniforms and equipment to finish the season.

Bernie, Missouri - As the 7th and 8th grade basketball season continues, the Bloomfield Wildcats continued their season with a visit to Bernie to take on the Mules this Tuesday night.  Bloomfield's 8th grade team was dominant in their game against Bernie winning the game by a score of 62 to 44.  Equally, the 7th Grade Bernie Mules had a strong performance and defeated the Wildcats by a score of 52 to 32.

The 8th grade Wildcats had an offensive machine with Tim and Jacob Hector, who combined for a total of 37 of the 62 points on the night.  Tim Hector was the leading scorer for Bloomfield with 23 points and Jacob Hector followed with 14 points. 

The Wildcats jumped out to a quick first quarter lead of 24 to 6.  The quick moving unselfish offense for the Wildcats was just too much for the Bernie 8th grade team.  The Wildcats pumped in an additional 17-points in the 2nd quarter, making the half time score 41 to 15. 

Bloomfield pulled their starting lineup early in the 2nd half allowing the entire team to get some game experience.  The Mules were able to rally in the 2nd half outscoring the Wildcats 29 to 21.

Gage Stogsdale and Alex Gibbs each had 6-points in the contest.  Brad Massingill followed with 4-points, Kyle Anderson had 3-points and Joey Clary, Austin Phillips and Dallas Monroe had two-points each.

In the 7th grade game, the story was reversed as the Bernie Mules continued their undefeated season with a powerful full court press.  The Mules are exceptionally quick and created a number of turnovers in the backcourt against the Wildcats.  The Mules quickly exchanged these turnovers for points to jump out to a 1st quarter 18 to 2 lead. 

Bloomfield made a run in the 2nd quarter, outscoring the Mules 10 to 8 and again in the 3rd quarter 13 to 9.  But the Mules jumped back into the full court pressure and walked away with the fourth quarter 17 to 7.  The Mules defeated the Wildcats by 20 points (52 to 32) but it was actually a better game than the score shows.

Bloomfield will host the Dexter Bearcats middle school teams this Thursday, November 1st.  This should prove to be an excellent contest as both teams are evenly matched this season.

Richland, Missouri - The Dexter Middle School basketball team traveled to Richland this week to take on the Rebels.  The 8th Grade team continued their dominance over opponents extending their record to 4-0 on the season, while the 7th was able to capture a victory on the night moving to 3 -1.

The 8th grade 'Cats were led on the night by their strong performing Jason Jarrell.  Jarrell has continued to be a strong force for the Bearcats on the middle school level and is an exceptional athlete. 

He is surrounded also by other talent on the team such as Gavin Northcutt, Jackson Babb, and Riley Mason.  This is an overall a good group of ball players that really work well together on the court.  Most fans feel we will see this group continue to improve as they get more game time experience together. 

"Our decision making in transition was excellent tonight (against the Rebels)",  noted middle school basketball coach, Josh Dowdy.  "We are doing a great job of making the extra pass which is resulting into easy buckets."

Jarrell ended the night with 22 points, with Northcutt having 11 and Babb with 9.  Mason Riley and Ryan Mayo each contributed 4-points to the win.  Bryce Simmons continues to be a strong person inside for the 'Cats, as he and Zach Potts each added two points on the night. 

The 7th Grade group continues to improve in their 2012 season.  They quickly jumped out to a commanding lead in the 1st quarter creating a 16 to 4 margin.  But the Rebels of Richland were quick to battle back with 16 points of their own in the 2nd quarter leaving the Bearcats a 3-point lead at halftime. 

Richland continued to give the 7th grade Dexter team trouble in the 3rd by cutting the Bearcat lead by 1.  But the Bearcats Nick Trout helped his team rally in the 4th quarter with 6-points combined with Bo McMullin's 4-points to give the 'Cats a 54 to 43 win over the Rebels. 

"McMullin continues to be a workhorse for us all over the floor," commented Dowdy.   "Marcus Woodson also came off the bench and provided a lot of energy.  He hit some key buckets and played fearless tonight."

 "Richland played well and hit a lot of buckets," Dowdy added.  "We are not playing very good defense right now but it is to be expected since this is first time these kids have played man to man.  We will improve with time as these kids want to get better."

The Middle School 'Cats will play again on Thursday night against the Bloomfield Wildcats at Bloomfield High School.

Cape Girardeau, Missouri - The Dexter football traveling team was in action again on Saturday morning in Cape against the Cape Girardeau Mean Machine.  The young Bearcats found the more experienced Mean Machine to be speedy and tough to contain on the big plays and were defeated in the contest by a score of 38 to 18.

Organized to allow the 6th grade athletes experience playing as one team after the DPR season, the group found that their opponents had been playing all season together.  That experience proved to be a challenge for the young 'Cats, as the Mean Machine were able to perform their plays without flaw.

"It's really tough when you lose a game that you really feel that you were the better team," commented coach Darren Hillis.  "These guys (Cape) have been traveling all season in St. Louis and Memphis against older teams and simply executed real well against us."

Nonetheless, the Bearcats had many bright spots in the game.  One particular bragging point was the offensive line.  The line is made of Garrison Collier, Luke Boyer, Colten Rogers, James Robinson, Brock Simmons and Hunter Lawrence.  They really came off the ball and took control of the running game, providing good holes for the backfield to run through. 

That backfield was filled with Joe Rice at quarterback and running backs of Corbin Strong, Seth Rogers and Colten Gibson.  Fans and family that traveled to the game also saw a great performance by wide receiver Nate Gargis.  Nate had a couple of receptions on the day but was very effective on both kickoff returns and the offensive reverse. 

The big plays of the Cape Mean Machine were just a little more than the Bearcats were able to stop.  They primarily attacked the outside of the Bearcat defensive and were able to get away on long runs to the endzone. 

Coach Aaron Pixley was on hand to watch the team play.  Pixley has always shown a keen interest in his younger programs and the development of the his program. 

"I saw a lot of things that I liked out there," noted Pixley.  "There is a lot of raw talent and these young men just need to be willing to work and improve their strength and speed."

Oddly enough, the team was reminded in the post game talk that it is only a few short years before they will become the property of Coach Pixley's high school program.  They were encouraged to continue to work on their skills so that everyone can enjoy watching them at Charles "Seed" Bland Stadium.

Dexter, Missouri - The Bearcat Event Center was filled with basketball action on Friday night as the T S Hill Middle School Bearcats played host to the Mules of Bernie.  The 8th grade 'Cats were able to capture a victory over the Mules by a score of 43 to 19 while the 7th Grade dropped their contest by a score of 28 to 59.

With a large crowd on hand for a middle school basketball game, the Bearcat Event Center was pumping with excitement as fans from the Dexter and Bernie communities were expecting good solid basketball play.  As a typical rivalry game, the performances of both teams were good for an early season game and each team walking away with a victory.

In his first year as the middle school coach, Josh Dowdy brings to the Bearcat program a special spark in both coaching experience and enthusiasm for the kids.  As a standout member of the DHS basketball program, Josh has followed his passion to work with young people to teach the game that was so good to him.  He is a hard worker and motivates his teams to reach higher levels of accomplishments.  He is assisted by Mike Vipperman. 

The eighth grade team displayed excellent teamwork on the court with unselfish passing and big time hustle throughout the night.  Jason Jarrell lit up the goals at the BEC by dumping in 23-point on the night.  He was followed by Gavin Northcutt with 8-points, Ryan Mayo and Jackson Babb each with 4-points on the night. 

The eight grade team has a group of exceptional athletes.  They should offer Bearcat fans many reasons to get out and support them.  Of course, Jarrell has shown himself to be an all around anchor and leader among the group.  The intensity and desire to perform shows on Jarrell's face.  Most importantly, his concept of "team" is equally as obvious as he works with teammates Mayo, Northcutt, Babb and others.

With 7 of the 13 team members getting marks in the scorebox, the team quickly rotated the entire team into the game to get their chance to play.  During these development years, game time reps will prove to be the building blocks for the a solid high school program in future years.

The seventh grade team started off the night.  The Mules Gavin Brown had the hot hand in the first quarter of the game dumping in 11 of the 16 points for the Mules.  The Bearcats were only able to put up 6 in the first quarter, as Willis, McMullin and Jackson were able to add one field goal each.

Brown continued his dominance on the court throughout the game ending the game with 25 points on the night.  Bernie ran their quick moving full court transition game to keep the young Bearcats behind throughout the contest.  The Mules kept widening their lead throughout the game with a final score of 59 to 28 in favor of the Mules.

The Bearcats spread out the scoring and were led by Gabe Jackson with 7, Dawson Kasting with 6 and Bo McMullin with 5 points.  Nick Trout was able to tally up 4 points on the night, while Willis, Henson and Sindle added two points each.

The Bearcats will travel to Richland to take on the Rebels next Monday, October 29th.  Game time is at 6:00 PM for the 7th grade team and the 8th grade game will begin immediately following that game.  The teams will also travel to Bloomfield on Thursday to take on the Wildcats middle school teams. 

Be certain to make your plans to attend and support these teams.  You won't be sorry as both teams offer exciting basketball action.