The Dexter Bearcats rallied back from the 13-0 deficit to defeat the Ste. Genevieve Dragons 28-13 earning their first District Championship since 2011 at Charles Bland Stadium.

The Ste. Gen Dragons quickly got on the scoreboard taking an early lead with a 60-yard touchdown with only 11:03 left in the first quarter.  The extra point was successful.  

Dexter's Christiaan Wirz made a crucial tackle to stop the Dragons at the one-yard line preventing another score.  Ste. Gen added another touchdown ,but missed their opportunity to score the point after and led the Bearcats 13-0 at the half.

The Bearcats struggled throughout the first half.

"It was definitely a tale of two halves," stated head coach Chad Jamerson.  "We faced challenges in the first half, a little impatience and a few missteps in the offensive play calling."

The momentum shifted with the 'Cats showing more enthusiasm in the second half.  Devin Turnbo's interception stalled a Dragons' drive, leading to even more important moment for the Bearcats.  Lee-Michael  McDonald scored a 58-yard rushing touchdown, cutting the lead to 13-7.  Parker King's point after was good.  McDonald followed with another 34-yard run, bringing the Bearcats ahead 14-13.

"We made adjustments at halftime particularly by the defensive staff.  They were instrumental in overcoming these challenges," continued Jamerson.  "This allowed our team to become more physical and ultimately win the game for us.  We had some key plays and big runs by Lee-Michael McDonald, which highly contributed to our victory over our opponent."

Turnbo had yet another touchdown on a 5-yard run with a successful extra point by Parker King bringing the lead to 21-13.

The crowd, the fans and the 'Cats really got excited with the touchdowns and the momentum revealed that of a District win in the sights.  Nolan Alford scored a 13-yard touchdown, finalizing the score 28-13 after another successful point after by Parker King.

"We really focused on wearing them down which proved to be successful," stated Jamerson.  "Their hard work and perseverance proved us right."

Donovan McNeil and Jaxson Miller contributed in big ways making key defensive plays and tackles.

The Dexter Bearcats improved to 11-0 marching deeper into the playoffs and for the first time in Dexter School history went 11-0 heading into the Missouri State play-offs.

"We have a lot of work to get done this week.  Lift for Life has some speed about them, athletic and a strong defensive line," continued Jamerson. 

While the upcoming game poses challenges, such as facing a large and strong opposition.  There are opportunities in the opponent's defense that could be capitalized on by executing a strong running game combined with strategic passing.  The Bearcats are hungry for a win and a state title run.  

"We are so thankful for the community's support and dedication to our team," Jamerson commented. "With our work ethic and influence to provide positive experiences we are making real progress in our program."

The Dexter Bearcats will travel to Mehlville on Saturday, November 23rd with a kick-off time of 1 p.m.  

The Dexter Bearcats hosted the Fredericktown Blackcats in semifinal action at Charles Bland Stadium on Friday, November 8, 2024 hoping to punch the ticket to the district championship.  

Fredericktown led 7-6 led in the first quarter with a 68-yard touchdown pass and successfully kicking the extra point to take the lead.  The Bearcats struggle early the game, but managed to keep the score close before exploding in the second half to defeat the Blackcats 56-20 breaking a school record of the most points scored in a season.

The Bearcats led six to nothing in the first quarter when Lee-Michael McDonald ran in putting the first points on the board; however they missed out on the 2-point conversion.  Fredericktown answered with their own touchdown and were successful on the extra point with only about 3 minutes left in the first. 

The Bearcats weren't going to let one touchdown interfere in their goal to win this game.  Quarterback Jackson Howard handed off to Lee-Michael McDonald with a 6-yard touchdown run followed by a successful two-point conversion with 5:54 remaining in the second quarter.  Nolan Alford then created some space and ran in for a 13-yard touchdown with only 3:38 left in the first half.  Parker King kicked the extra point giving the Bearcats a comfortable 21-7 lead going into the locker room at the half.

"Credit to Fredercktown.  They came out in the first half and did some good things, especially in the first quarter," commented Dexter head coach Chad Jamerson.  "They weren't able to run the ball.  We made them aware very early that they weren't able to run that ball, but they were able to do some thing in the passing game, slow route and then they crossed some dudes up and it just kind of confused us a little.  We did a poor job on the back four of communicating in the first, in the odd quartering the first and the third quarter.  We didn't communicate very well on the back end and that kind of is what led to a lot of our breakdowns in the past defense."

"It was a hard fought football game, and their quarterback, Easton Wood, did a nice job for Fredericktown," continued Jamerson.  "We told the guys all week long, hey, just because you have played really good football for nine games doesn't guarantee that you are going to play it for the 10th.  And it doesn't guarantee that you can just put a whooping on people.  This 10th week it's going to be different.  It is different.  This is not regular season.  You know, the most dangerous man in the world is a man that's got nothing to lose!"

"We told the guys that all week.  These guys had nothing to lose.  They did some things that confused us, so we are going to make sure we kind of reset, refocus and get ready for Friday," Jamerson said.

The Blackcats narrowed the gap to 21-14 with a touchdown pass in the third.  Dexter responded with a 56-yard run by Alford increasing the lead to 28-14.

Fredericktown would not give up and responded with their final touchdown of the game with a 41-yard pass late in their third quarter.

The Bearcats again responded with a 1-yard run by McDonald making it 35-20.

Dexter owned the fourth quarter with three more touchdowns.  Langston Wernick scored a 10-yard touchdown run, Jackson Howard kept the ball and ran two yards and Jett Grams added a 6-yard touchdown run bringing the final score to 56 - 20.

The Bearcats had an impressive performance with a total of 619 yards of which 542 were rushing yards.  Jett Grams had 19 carries for 187 yards and two touchdowns.  Lee-Michael McDonald had 10 carries for 150 yards and three touchdowns.  Nolan Alford had six carries for 104 yards and two touchdowns.

King had a pretty good night as well.  He kicked six for six extra points.

On defense, Jackson Miller got some great hits out there.  "It's hard to imagine that he is just a sophomore," stated Jamerson.  "He doesn't mind bringing it.  Brining the boom a little bit, and you know he was hitting some dudes out there."

"We had a punt return where Christiaan Wirz absolutely destroyed a kid down her around the 35 on or near the hash mark," jamerson continued. "And then he had a big tackle where he fell down and kid was on his back, he reached up and pulled the return man down.  He made some really big plays on special teams, which made up for some mistakes that he made defensively and then had that big carry at the end of the game.  Anytime you got a kid as fast and as strong as Christiaan, you got a good kid.

"The coaches and I were talking on the sideline.  Most teams would be happy with giving up only 20 points.  Most teams would be ecstatic.  But at the end of the day, that's not our standard," stated Jamerson. "Our standard is to play with perfection.  We have high expectations."

Two other players who had a great night were Lee-Michael McDonald and Jett Grams.  Both came up big for the Bearcats Friday night.

"You know what I see is what you get with Jett, 230 pounds of rocking soccer robot! I mean this kid just runs with an exuberance and a joy and a fury unmatched.  He's hard to tackle.  Even when you think you got him boiled up in the backfield, he manages to run," stated Jamerson. "There were kids that had him wrapped up around the net, knees and kids that were wrapped up around the ankles, and he jus pulled his leg right out of the grip.  Finally took about four kids to slow him down tonight.  Just a man among boys at times."

"I talk about Lee-Michael, I am out of words.  Over three years, lighting in a bottle, tackling things like trying to eat tomato soup with a fork, you come up with something that's describing what it's like to see Lee-Michael play.  The way th kids stops on a dime, reverses field, makes kids miss.  My goodness, what a blessing we have in this athlete.

"He has desire and a lot of it.  He plays with intensity. He gets ramped up and I get al little ramped up and at the end of the day, he's a competitor and he comes out and gives us all his way.  He just loves the game," stated Jamerson of Lee-Michael.

Jamerson this was the biggest game of his career thus far.  Next week will be even bigger!  The Dexter Bearcats will host Ste. Genevieve in a District Championship at Charles Bland Stadium.  It will be a big game!  Coach Jamerson's biggest game yet and the community is supporting the Bearcats big this year.

"It will be a big game, probably the biggest game Dexter has had in the last decade!" Jamerson exclaimed.  "The community has been outstanding.  They have done a tremendous job of coming out and supporting us.  So I expect nothing less than what we've already seen and probably a little bit more on Friday night."

Dexter has been here before.  Last year Ste. Gen defeated the Bearcats, by only one point, 29-28.........so they are hungry for a win and maybe a little revenge!  In 2022 Ste. Genevieve beat Dexter in the first game of district play 56-17.  The last time the Bearcats beat Ste. Gen was in 2018 when the Bearcats defeated them in triple overtime 25-19.  

"At the end of the day I am not gonna stop coaching," continued Jamerson. "No matter what, I am not going to not coach.  You have got to realize that the standard has been raised and 20 points might be good enough for other teams, but not good enough for us."

The final rankings are in until the conclusion of the postseason have been announced.  Dexter is ranked #3 in the Class 3!!  Only Seneca and Blair Oaks are ranked higher.

Statewide high school football rankings, as compiled by a 9-member panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. First-place votes in parenthesis. Panel is made up of Dion Clisso, PrepsKC; Cole Young, PrepsKC; Tom Rackers, Jefferson City News-Tribune; Chris Parker, Ozone Sports; Joe Andrews, Warrensburg Star-Journal; Anthony Crane, KQ2 St. Joseph; J.B. Connoley, NEMOPressbox.com; Cole Lee, semoball.com; Paul Halfacre, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

First-place votes in parenthesis.

CLASS 3

Rank, team, Rec., Pts.

1. Blair Oaks (7), 8-1, 88, 1 

2. Seneca (2), 9-0, 82, 2

3. Dexter, 9-0, 69, 3 

4. St. Francis Borgia, 9-0, 66, 4 

5. Strafford, 8-1, 43, 5 

6. Boonville, 7-2, 38, 7 

7. Mt. Vernon, 6-3, 33, 6

8. John Burroughs, 7-2, 32, 8 

9. Maryville, 5-4, 18, T9 

10. Mountain Grove, 6-3, 14, NR 

Dropped out: No. 10 Park Hills Central 

Also receiving votes: Park Hills Central (5-4), 4; Lift for Life (4-5), 2; St. Michael (5-4), 2; St. Clair (6-3), 2; Odessa (5-4), 1; Richmond (6-3), 1

The Dexter Bearcats have earned a little more respect after beating Park Hill Central on Friday night.  The Bearcats are 8-0 and have one opponent left on their regular season schedule this Friday when they take on the Scott City Rams.  It's also senior night and emotions will be high.  

Dexter is ranked No. 1 in Class 3 District 1 followed by Ste. Genevieve (5-3), Park Hills Central (5-3), Fredericktown (3-5), Potosi (2-6), Herculaneum (1-7), and Kennett )0-8).

Statewide high school football rankings, as compiled by a 9-member panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. First-place votes in parenthesis. Panel is made up of Dion Clisso, PrepsKC; Cole Young, PrepsKC; Tom Rackers, Jefferson City News-Tribune; Chris Parker, Ozone Sports; Joe Andrews, Warrensburg Star-Journal; Anthony Crane, KQ2 St. Joseph; J.B. Connoley, NEMOPressbox.com; Cole Lee, semoball.com; Paul Halfacre, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

CLASS 3

Rank, team, Rec., Pts.

1. Blair Oaks (7), 7-1, 88, 1 

2. Seneca (2), 8-0, 83, 2

3. Dexter, 8-0, 70, 3 

4. St. Francis Borgia, 8-0, 63, 4 

5. Strafford, 8-0, 52, 7 

6. Mt. Vernon, 6-2, 49, 5 

7. Boonville, 6-2, 28, NR

8. John Burroughs, 6-2, 18, NR 

T9. Maryville, 4-4, 8, 6 

T9. Park Hills Central, 5-3, 8, 9 

Dropped out: No. 8 Southern Boone, No. 10 Lift for Life

Also receiving votes: Southern Boone (5-3), 7; Knob Noster (6-2), 6; Mountain Grove (5-3), 6; St. Michael (5-3), 5; Lift for Life (4-4), 4

The Dexter Bearcats claimed a decisive victory against the Park Hills Central Rebels with a final score of 35-12. The game was anticipated to be challenging, akin to their encounter with Southern Boone, but the Bearcats managed to control the game effectively through key plays and strategic gameplay. This was also the 'Cats annual pink night for breast cancer awareness.

The game began dramatically as Park Hills' kickoff returner fumbled; Dexter's Jackson Miller #1 recovered, but couldn't advance due to the muff rule. 

"We couldn't advance the ball on a kickoff. I've seen that happen a couple times over the 20 years, and there was one time, actually, it didn't get called," commented Dexter Bearcat Football Coach Chad Jamerson.  It got the crowd going into the game and really, it really fueled that next drive that we had.

The Bearcats capitalized early, scoring a touchdown with a 4-yard run by Nolan Alford #12. The extra point failed, leaving the score at 6-0 in favor of Dexter.

The only other score in the first half was early in the second quarter, starting from their 2-yard line, Dexter advanced, but were stopped to set up a 28-yard field goal by Parker King, increasing the lead to 9-0 at halftime.

"I mean, how huge has Parker King been this year in big time games, guys, he's come out and he's performed not only on the extra points, but he's also performed when his number was called on field goals," continued Jamerson. "So, I mean, no doubt Parker has shown up and shown out for us and he's done a great job of taking care of our kicking in."

The third quarter saw significant defensive play from the Bearcats, highlighted by an interception from Houston Neely, which shifted the game’s momentum. This led to the Bearcats scoring another touchdown and a successful extra point, bringing the score to 16-6. 

Attempting a comeback, the Rebels scored, but another interception by Neely thwarted further advances. This was promptly followed by another touchdown by Jett Grams, which kept the lead firm for the Bearcats at 22-6, despite a missed extra point. Neely's interceptions played a pivotal role in maintaining the Bearcats' lead, neutralizing Park Hills’ advances and setting up opportunities for the Bearcats to build on their lead.

Park Hills fought back with a touchdown by quarterback Jackson Jones but failed the two-point conversion, leaving the score at 22-12.

The Bearcats extended their lead with a 43-yard touchdown pass from Jackson Howard to Lee Michael McDonald.  Extra point was good by King. Then another rushing touchdown by Devin Turnbo. 

Parker King, on special teams, played a crucial roll in both extra points and field goals, showcased reliability by successfully kicking a 28-yard field goal.

Lee Michael McDonald drew admiration for his elusive playing style highlighting his agility and unpredictability.

"Any time that Lee Michael is on the field, we've said this for I don't know how many weeks, how many years by now, but he's lightning in a bottle. He's just running," stated Jamerson.  "I mean, I would say trying to tackle Lee Michael is like trying to eat tomato soup with a fork. You're just not going to be able to do it effectively. He just finds a way. I mean, goodness sakes, that pass play wasn't even the initial route. He just found an opening and streaked across.  And those are the things that Lee Michael brings to this offense that really kind of opens it up.

Jett Grams and other offensive players were credited for their explosiveness and agility, stressing the depth in Dexter's lineup.

"Clearly tonight, Park Hill's goal was to take away Jett Gram's ability" continued Jamerson. "They struggled at times to do that, but, you know, we're fortunate enough to have other weapons."

Houston Neely made significant contributions with two interceptions, pivotal for the team's second-half success.

"He is a leader through and through. Obviously, he's a great tight end. Two time all conference tight end. Should have been an all-state last year. You know, his production hasn't been what it's been in the past because he has sacrificed to make sure other parts of the offense work. I think that's a testament to his leadership is he realizes the weapons that we have and what kind of offense we are. So he is sacrificing the production that he's had these last couple years. I think that speaks. I think that's a testament to his character, to his leadership, that at the end of the day, he just wants the team to be successful."

Logan Pulliam and Langston Wernick stood out for their solid performances and capacity to make crucial plays. Langston was particularly noted for filling the role of the injured Lee Michael McDonald earlier in the season..

The Bearcats enjoyed a commanding victory at home against a challenging opponent. The dynamic start, coupled with robust mid-game defensive plays and consistent offensive execution, ensured their success against the Rebels. Securing a top seed in the district could lead to home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, providing significant strategic benefits.

Next week, the Bearcats aim to finish a perfect regular season against Scott City, a team with a solid reputation. It's also SENIOR NIGHT for the Bearcats and 17 football seniors will take the field in their last regular season home game!