Portageville, MO - The Dexter Bearcats dominated at the Portageville pre-season Jamboree on Friday night competing against the Portageville Bulldogs, Kelly Hawks, and East Prairie Eagles. A jamboree was invented to get everyone a chance to get on the field, tackle someone besides their own teammates, and scratch out the mistakes. It’s a perfect opportunity to face-off against other teams and perfect the game prior to the season opener.
“Overall, I am very pleased with how the kids played at the Jamboree,” commented third year head coach Chad Jamerson. “The offensive line did an outstanding job of executing the majority of their assignments and our running backs took care of the ball.”
“Our quarterbacks made great reads as well.” For example in the Bearcat’s opening drive against the Eagles, senior quarterback #16 Jackson Howard sealed the deal with a touchdown throw to senior tight end #22 Logan Pullum.
Howard put together quite a nice game for the Bearcats. He has developed into a very strong athlete. His back-up QB #17 Will Guethle also shows great promise as a young quarterback. He is a sophomore and very capable of coming in if the Bearcats were to need him down the road.
“I was also most pleased with the efforts and intensity that our defense played. Obviously because it is early and there were some mistakes, but they did their best to correct those mistakes and continue playing hard,” continued Jamerson.
It definitely speaks well of the program, the Bearcats will start the season with 63-man roster.
“Our core five of #54 Zach Billingsley, #56 Caden Lee, #72 Landon Annesser, #57 Walker Jarrell and #66 Peyton Hartline for tonight, said Jamerson. “But we have #73 Sawyer Rascher, who is dealing with an injury, he will come back and that gives us a whole other dynamic.”
“We’ve got #71 Jacob Huey, who can play offensive line. We have #74 Ethan Glaus, who can play some offensive line and #53 Caleb Gott, even,” continued Jamerson. “We are pretty blessed. A lot of schools would be happy to have two or three linemen of this caliber that we have, and we are looking at six or seven deep.”
It didn’t matter the Bearcats were clearly aggressive on both sides of the ball. Even when Dexter played their junior varsity, the young athletes like quarterback Will Guethle synced up with sophomore receiver #11 Carson Hurt for a couple of touchdowns.
“Finally, I love the progressions that our young players have shown this summer. They showed excellent growth and executed their assignments on both offense and defense at the Jamboree. The young guys have come along way since early May,” stated Jamerson.
The Bearcats finished the 2023 season 6-3 and this year the program looks to be even stronger hoping for the best winning record since 2011.
Dexter will open the season on the road against the Malden Green Wave on Friday, August 30, 2024. Kick-off at 7 p.m. Next week on September 6th it’s HOMECOMING at Charles Bland Stadium against the Sikeston Bulldogs.
