Dexter, Missouri - The Bearcats hosted the New Madrid County Central Eagles on Friday, September 13, 2019 at Charles Bland Stadium.  

The 'Cats and Eagles were evenly matched in the first two quarters, but it was NMCC who came out scoring a couple of touchdowns on their first two possession on their way to a 43 - 15 win over the Bearcats.

“We told them at half, ‘they’re going to come out swinging. They’re going to give you their best shot’ and they did,” Dexter coach Aaron Pixley said of the Eagles. “We just gave up some big plays.”

“You’ve got to tip your hat to New Madrid,” Pixley said. “They’re really good. They’re talented. We’ve just got to correct a lot of little things in order to get the big thing, which is a win.”

Dexter took an early 7-0 lead when senior, Mason Keena scored on a 9-yard run with just 2:18 left in the first quarter.  He finished with a game-high 135 yards rushing on 21 carries.

It was the Eagles turn striking quickly when Kenyon King received a 57-yard pass and ran to the Bearcats' five yard line.  NMCC scored on the next play and turned a two=point conversion giveing the Eagles a 8-7 lead with 1:27 left in the first quarter.

New Madrid scored again with 9:30 left in the second quarter giving them a 15-7 lead.  The Bearcats fought back when Hayden Hillis ran in from the one yard line scoring for Dexter.  He hooked up with Townsend for a two-point conversion tying the score at 15 all going into the locker rooms at half-time.

The Bearcats will be off next week before traveling to Doniphan to face the Dons on Sept. 27.

NMCC 8 7 21 7 - 43

Dexter 7 8 0 0 - 15

First quarter

DEX - Keena 9 run (Medler kick), 2:18.

NMCC - Jackson 5 run (Davis run), 1:27.

Second quarter

NMCC - Jackson 7 run (Cranford kick), 9:30.

DEX - Hillis 1 run (Townsend pass from Hillis), 1:55.

Third quarter

NMCC - Davis 38 pass from Riley (kick blocked), 9:52.

NMCC - Davis 46 pass from Riley (Davis run), 6:52.

NMCC - Williams interception return (Cranford kick), 5:15

Fourth quarter

NMCC - Davis 13 pass from Riley (Cranford kick), 10:26.

                     NMCC DEX

First downs 15          12

Total yards 338         208

Rushes-yards 29-129 41-156

Passing yards 209         52

Punt returns 1-12         2-36

Kickoff returns 1-14     6-95

Defensive returns 67 36

Comp.-Att.-Int. 15-20-0 4-21-2

Punts-avg. 6-19.3 4-22.8

Penalties-yards 10-76 10-94

Time of possession 21:40 26:20

RUSHING: NMCC, Jackson 19-110, Mays 5-19, Nowell 1-5, Williams 2-4, Davis 1-(minus-2), Riley 1-(minus-7). Dexter, Keena 21-135, Guy 15-59, Hillis 4-(minus-13).

PASSING: NMCC, Riley 15-20-0 209. Dexter, Hillis 4-21-2 52.

RECEIVING: NMCC, Davis 5-111, King 1-57, Williams 2-14, Jackson 3-12, McFerren 3-12, Nowell 1-3. Dexter, Townsend 2-26, Riley 1-14, Vanslyke 1-12.