Dexter, Missouri - It's been six long years since the Bearcats have extinguished the nasty fire breathing Dragons of Ste. Genevieve.
It was a sweet victory in their home opener on Friday evening!
Charles Bland Stadium was full of fans to the very end.
The first quarter ended with neither team scoring. Same thing happened last season on Ste. Gen's turf, unfortunately it was the Dragons who came out on top in the 2016 season. This year was a much different picture for the hard-working Bearcats. They had a goal to beath Ste. Gen and they accomplished that goal in style!
Junior Cat #21 Seth Rogers picked off a 4th down pass by the Dragons' quarterback Chad Donze and returned it 85 yards for the Bearcats' first touchdown of the game. The Cats were back and fired up!
"He is the perfect example of a kid who played all last year as a sophomore, takes every snap, works hard all summer long in the weight room and in practice and it completely payed off," stated head football coach Kevin Goltra with a huge smile on his face. "He was exactly where he was supposed to be on the exact play he's practiced against for 30 difference practices and it was successful. He is a great kid."
In the third quarter, with 3 minutes left, junior #31 Corbin Strong rushed in from the nine yard line to score the final Bearcat touchdown sealing their 16 - 8 win.
Dexter athletes ran across the field and celebrated with their fellow classmates and pep club as if they had won a state championship! It was great to see the football players excited about their win. (More than 1,000 photos of the game are posted in 13 albums on the ShowMe Times Facebook page. Check out the excitement!)
"I was getting a little worked up about it," commented Goltra. "We didn't win the Super Bow or anything. they made sure to let me know that that was important to them, and that was a goal. I have to realize, not that I haven't, but when you reach a goal, a milestone, you need to celebrate because those are hard. They have busted their tails since November 1, 2016 until tonight to achieve that goal of winning that first game against Ste. Gen."
Last year Dexter lost to Ste. Gen by a score of 35-6. Goltra credits working in the weight room, attitude and leadership as to how the Bearcats were able to overcome their goal.
On Offense: Senior quarterback Ben Sindle was 0 for 8 passing with 0 interceptions. He did have a 40 yard catch by Nick Trout for a touchdown, but it was called back on a holding penalty against the 'Cats. Caleb Hoggard had 25 carries for 100 yards along with Corbin Strong who had 79 yards on 10 carries. Dexter finished with a total of 165 yards rushing.
On Defense: Corbin Strong led with 13 total tackles. Jett Featherston tallied nine tackles and Bo McMullin finished the game with eight tackles.
Bearcats vs Dragons at Dexter August 18, 2017 Scoring
Ste. Genevieve 0 0 8 0 - 8
Dexter 0 8 8 0 - 16
Second Quarter - (DEX) Seth Rogers 85 yard interception (Caleb Hoggard ran in for 2)
Third Quarter - (DEX) Corbin Strong 9 yard rush (Strong ran in for 2); (STE. GEN) Camden Roe ran for 27 yards (Brewster run for 2)
The Dexter Bearcats (1-0) travel to Poplar Bluff on Friday, August 25th. Kick-off is 7:00 p.m. They will be back at home on Friday, September 1st against NMCC. It's Miss DHS Night so get there early for the crowning of Miss DHS at 6:30 p.m. Game time is 7:00 p.m.
Ste. Genevieve will take on Valle Catholic next.
