Written by
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Editor
Dexter, Missouri – It was a frightful Halloween night with storms around every corner. The sixth-seeded Bearcats came out ready to rumble and gave the 3rd-seededd Trojans quite the scare in the opening quarter of the Class 3, District 1, playoff game.
Potosi had the home-field advantage, but there were almost as many Bearcat fans in the bleachers as there were Trojan fans. In just under three minutes, Potosi jumped out to a 6-0 lead when Austin Cooley ran the ball 80 yards for a touchdown; however their extra point kick was no good. The Bearcats needed to step it up and they did scoring two more touchdowns in the first quarter.
Peyton Pollock, Dexter’s quarterback found his wide receiver #4 D.J. Dowdy for a 63-yard touchdown pass. An unfortunate slip on the muddy field by MaKayla Waldner and the extra point was no good.
Ethans Stevens punt to the Trojans was fumbled by Sherelle Allen and recovered by Dylan Bazarian for another Bearcat touchdown. This time MaKayla Waldner lined up in a little dryer portion of the field and her kick was good. Bearcats 13 Trojans 6
“The kids came out fired up,” stated Dexter coach Justin Peden. “The guys were ready for this game and really hyped up tonight.” “Right before the half, Ethan Steven had a chance to score. He’s a good player. He just made a hustle play and came up short.”
Potosi wasn’t ready to give up on this Halloween evening. It was cold. It was muddy, but they managed to push back at the Bearcats with 9:52 left in the first half scoring with a six-yard touchdown run and a two-point conversion put them in the lead again 14-13. Seven minutes later, Potosi’s quarterback Aaron Vinson sent the ball in the air for a 30-yard touchdown, but their extra point was no good. Bearcats 13 – Trojans 20 going into the locker at half-time.
The Trojans added two more touchdowns in the 3rd quarter. Each on their first two offensive possessions giving them a tremendous lead and 33-13 win.
Neither team scored in the 4th quarter. “Our guys were slipping and sliding and no one could get much traction,” commented Peden.
Peyton Pollock was 29 for 224 yards passing and 19 for 75 yards rushing. D.J. Dowday was 5 for 106 yards receiving and had nine tackles along with Jon Foels and Trevor Waldner who also had 9 each.
“It’s disappointing when you don’t get the wins, but we are building a great future for Dexter. I want to thank the Dexter Bearcat Nation for their support of this team. It has meant a lot to these guys. We have a young group and I saw a lot of progress this year.”
The Bearcats will graduate 12 seniors this season. They have a lot of young players to build onto for next season. “The seniors are great bunch of kids and are like real family to me. They worked hard all summer and it is always difficult to learn a new offensive system in just one season. They have been successful in my book and you have to commend those kids.”
Coach Peden is very positive about next year. “It always leaves a sour taste in your mouth when you lose, but that will make these kids work harder for next year.”
“Stick with us next season and I think you will see tremendous improvement. We all learned a lot this year and are proud and Bearcat strong!”
D.J. Dowdy moved from quarterback to receiver this year and had 700 yards receiving. “That’s pretty impressive and I am very proud of this young man. This should land him a spot as an all-conference player.”
Way to go Bearcats. Thank you for a great season on the field!
