Written by
Dee Loflin, SMT Manager/Editor

Dexter, Missouri – Mother Nature seemed to have her way with many area football games as they were delayed by more than an hour for lightning.  Week #2 didn’t go exactly as planned for the Dexter Bearcats, but they fought hard and performed well on the field despite the score. 

The Poplar Bluff Mules seemed invincible in the first ten minutes of the game, but the Bearcats overcame a 14-point deficit to tie things up 14-14 by the end of the third quarter.  The game then stopped for a lightning delay and the rain followed.  It took about one hour and a half hours before the Bearcats could resume play.

It was all Mules in the first quarter as they scored first with Bi Nguyen rushing for just three yards to points on the board.  On the Mules second possession of the game Kameron Misner threw 18 yards to Briar Alford to increase the lead to 14-0 with about two and a half minutes remaining in the first quarter.  That put a damper on the Bearcats and the crowd cheering for their favorite team!

“When we came out we put undue pressure on ourselves to be great,” commented Dexter head football coach Justin Peden.  “We don’t just go out sometimes and play football because we are so ready to impress.  I think we need to calm down sometimes at the beginning of the game.  These guys were excited because they know we can be good.”

The Bearcats did not give up!  Peyton Pollock completed an 81-yard touchdown drive in the middle of the second quarter, passing to Austin Aldridge putting points on the board, cutting the lead 14-6.

“We knew their corners were playing soft,” Peden said.  “Their corners played back a little ways so we thought we could hit the underneath routes.  That drive was pretty and was a good indication of what we can do when we get clicking offensively.  We are still working out some kinks I guess, but we are going to be better offensively and that drive was a good showing of how e could keep moving the chains and get in the end zone throwing the ball.”

Peyton Pollock once again came through for the Bearcats running the ball 25 yards for their second touchdown of the game with just eight minutes left in the third quarter.  A completed pass to Ethan Stevens added a two-point conversion securing a tie between the two teams.

“It was a good game,” Peden said.  “The guys were playing well coming into the fourth quarter.  We are competing with teams people thought we weren’t supposed to be competing with.  I think that’s showing people we have been working hard, getting prepared and we are a better football team.  Now we’ve just got to turn these close games into wins and I think we will be ok.”

The Mules came out strong after the rain delay and outscored the Bearcats 16-6 in the forth quarter to win. 

Poplar Bluff’s final score came with a 69 yard drive with Misner ran the football up the middle from the 1-yard line to put the Mules out of reach 30-14 with 5:51 left on the clock. 

Peyton Pollock answered with his own, keeping the ball and ran an 11-yard touchdown in the final minute of regulation trimming the lead, but it wasn’t enough for the win.

“We kind of thought it would be good for us to get in and get some time,” Peden stated when asked about how the weather affected the Bearcat’s spirit.  “But once we started hitting a half hour, 45 minutes and then an hour it was kin d of lagging for us.  We needed to get out earlier.  If we could have got out earlier after a chance to rest up it would have been better for us, but they had to sit in there too so you cannot really blame it on the weather delay.  We lost our momentum and the emotion we had going because we were riding a high and they had to get in there and talk x’s and o’s and correct their mistakes.  That’s just the way it goes sometimes.”

Pollock completed 20 passes for 174 yards.  He ran for two touchdowns and threw one to Ethan Stevens.  He finished with a net 59 yards rushing.

Noah Kronk led the Bearcats with seven tackles.  Drake Mitchell and Bo McMullin each had six tackles.  Tim Spence, Dylan Bazarian, and Austin Chesser each completed five tackles.

“Our defense played treat tonight,” stated Peden.  “They had a short field a couple times and we stopped them.  Any mistakes that were made are ones that are correctable.  As long as the effort is there it’s our job as coaches to correct the mistakes.  We will get in there and look at film, figure out what went wrong, fix the problems, and come out better next week.” 

The Dexter Bearcats (0-2) will be back in action this Friday hosting the Charleston Bluejays (0-2).  Both teams are looking for their first victory of the season!  Game time 7:00 p.m.

Final Score  Poplar Bluff 30, Dexter 20

TEAM STATISTICS

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - (PB) Kameron Misner 16-102, Bi Nguyen 15-54, Tristen Francisco 2-12, Briar Alford 2-9. (Dexter) Peyton Pollock 24-59, Carson Dean 3-3, Dylan Bazarian 2-0.

Passing - (PB) Kameron Misner 10-20-1 = 110. (Dexter) Peyton Pollock 20-39-1 = 174.

Receiving - (PB) Briar Alford 3-37, Austin Jefferson 3-21, Tristen Francisco 2-14, Elijah Dawson 1-22, Denzel Britton 1-16. (Dexter) Ethan Stevens 4-43, Austin Chesser 4-14, Austin Aldridge 3-41, Gavin White 3-21, Jason Jarrell 2-26, Nick Trout 2-17, Tim Spence 2-12.

Punting - (PB) Tristen Francisco 6-185. (Dexter) Ethan Stevens 5-183.