The Dexter Bearcats are wrapping up their summer program and are ready for the Friday night lights at Charles Bland Stadium.  On Wednesday, they held a 7 on 7 and Big Man Challenge against the Kelly Hawks.

The athletes and coaches have worked and sacrificed all summer long to get to this point.  With new head coach Chad Jamerson at the helm, the Bearcats are starting to come together as a team.  

In the Big Man Challenge the boys flipped tractor tires, tug-of-war, and offensive/defensive tackle plays.  The 7 on 7 featured each teams ability to throw and run the ball to score.

"The kids are having fun and working hard.  Those are valuable parts of the program building process," commented Head Coach Chad Jamerson. "There are moments throughout this process where we, as coaches, will see all of the moving parts start coming together. It’s hard not to get excited when we see positive things happening.  But, we also have to beware not getting too excited with the good or too low with the bad.  At the end of the day, we’ve gotta continue to work hard and keep getting better.  The rest will take care of itself."

There were a lot of positives and negatives on the field during the challenge.  Kelly gave the Bearcats a lot of different looks on offense and defense.

"Our kids are still in the process of learning what our standard of play is.  Programs grow slowly like a tree, so we’ve got be patient throughout the process.  It won’t happen overnight.  With that being said, I felt our kids worked hard and showed flashes of really good play," continued Jamerson.

"I believe we learned today that things are never as bad as we think…nor are they ever as good as we think.  Just like in life, things aren’t always going to go our way.  So, how do we handle adversity.  That’s a lesson that we always have to continue teaching to our youth.  “Are you going to lay down or are you going to stand and fight?”  I believe that if you continue working hard, good things can happen."

Dexter's schedule is a tough one this year.  They are on the road at New Madrid County Central, Caruthersville and Malden.  At home they will see East Prairie, Doniphan, Kennett and Park Hills Central.  All incredibly good team and will be challenging to beat.

"We, as a program, must continue to have perspective in terms of our expectations vs our outcomes.  Along with that, we are learning to trust each other and the playbook.  Sometimes, we only see the pieces instead of the entire puzzle.  Today, I believe we started to put the pieces in the right place to make the big picture less murky.  Ultimately, it’s a TEAM game.  The players and coaches have to learn to “do your job” while also trusting that your teammates and coaches will do just that, their job," continued Jameson. 

This year's homecoming will be September 16th against East Prairie, which just happens to be Coach Jamerson's home town.  

"This is always an exciting time of year.  So much promise and possibility.  The time to see where we are is coming quickly," state Jamerson.

"Thank you to all those that have supported our kids.  We appreciate that.  Personally, I want to say thank you to our kids and our coaches.  They really do keep the machine running.  With continued hard work, some luck, and faith…I believe we are headed in the right direction."

 The Bearcats host a Football Jamboree on Friday, August 19th against Fredericktown, Poplar Bluff, and Caruthersville.  They open on the road at Scott City the following Friday.