By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor
The Sikeston Bulldogs proved to be too much for the ‘Cats to handle on Friday night at Charles Bland Stadium.
Sikeston’s speed and outstanding ground game took a toll on the Bearcat defense, and the Bulldogs handed Dexter the first loss of the season with a 57-30 final score. Head coach Aaron Pixley noted that tackling and penalties again proved to be big problems for the Bearcats in the contest.
“We talked about it all week long, about how we had to tackle these guys. Whenever you get in space there with them, you’ve gotta make sure you wrap up real well, and I think we were over-pursuing quite a bit on defense,” Pixley said. “Turnovers, big penalties got us again tonight.”
The Bearcats’ defense struggled with over-pursuing the speedy Sikeston running backs, which led to big plays for the Bulldogs.
“I told them after the game, any time you have a defense that over-pursues a lot, that’s aggressive kids, but you have to correct a few things along the way to correct the over-pursuit,” Pixley continued. “That’s what we have to do. We have to tackle better. They hit way too many big plays on us. If you don’t tackle these guys, they build momentum.”
James Watson proved to be the biggest challenge for the Bearcat defense. Watson’s incredible speed, coupled with the Bulldogs’ misdirection-oriented offensive schemes, helped the running back to 332 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the contest. “[Watson] is good...he’s not an overly big kid; he’s very fast. The style of offense they run is really conducive to a super-fast kid like that,” Pixley said. “Their other backs are good, but the Watson kid, they got us on the gives up the middle as well as some runs off-tackle. Part of the reason for that was their misdirection prior to the handoff. They’re a very good football team.”Despite the final score, the ‘Cats were in the game until midway through the third quarter, and the Dexter offense moved the ball well for most of the game.
Senior Zach Watson picked up a fumble to setup a short field and touchdown for the ‘Cats early in the third quarter, but an onside kick that Sikeston recovered was the ‘nail in the coffin’ for the Bearcats. “30 points will win you a lot of football games. We come right out, get a fumble, take it down and score to tie it 22-22, and it’s anybody’s game,” Pixley said. “They come back, score, get the onside kick, and score again, and that turned the momentum in their favor and we had a hard time coming back after that. We missed two possessions right there that our offense probably could have done something with.”
Quarterback Cody Stevens (9-22 for 148 yards, one touchdown, and two INT’s passing, 101 rushing yards on 16 attempts and one touchdown) had a great game for the Bearcats. Despite the low completion percentage and two early picks, the senior showed some great leadership late in the game.
With just over four minutes left in the contest, the senior QB scrambled for 26 yards to set up a 28 yard touchdown pass to Tyler Miller on the next play. The touchdown drive was too little, too late for the Bearcats, but it gave the squad a much-needed burst of positive energy.“They were up big there, and we were doing a good job moving the football, and I felt like we could continue to move it,” Pixley said of the drive. “Our kids responded and had a great attitude. In the fourth quarter, our kids were great about saying ‘hey, this is okay, lets just keep playing hard and get something positive out of this’, and I think they’re going to recover from it and be better for it.”
Both teams move to 2-1 on the season after the contest.
The Bearcats will be on the field next Friday, when they hit the road to face the Scott City Rams. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
For a full breakdown of the game's stats, click here.
The Starting lineups for tonight's contest will remain much the same as previous weeks. Aside from a few bumps and bruises, the Bearcats are healthy.
Defensively, the Bearcats will face a huge challenge of speed with the Bulldogs. That quickness combined with the multiple fake hand-offs will be tough for the 'Cats to determine who has the football. But, the Bearcat defense has proven themselves to be able to rise to the occasion thus far and should provide a roadblock for the 'Dogs.
Offensively, the Bearcat will need to eliminate some of the mistakes from last weeks game. The execution of the offense was outstanding, but penalties nullified what would have been several great plays by the offensive unit in the second half last week.
Look for some great action from quarterback Cody Stevens as he leads the offense tonight. Stevens has shown great running ability and an arm that needs to be respected by opponents.
Those Bearcats expected to start tonights contest are:
Bearcat Defensive Unit
Bearcat Offensive Unit
Bearcat Specialty Position & Others Likely To See Playing Time
Pre-game action will begin tonight around 6:00 pm with warm-ups for both teams. The actual game time begins around 7:00 pm. You will be able to catch the "live" Bearcat action on the Facebook or Twitter page for updates on the score and big plays!
You can also catch Rob Mayer, Andrew Stuever and Jason Comfort tonight on 102.3 FM KDEX. Their broadcast will begin with a Pre-Game Show at 6:30.
By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor
The Dexter Bearcats will face one of their toughest tests of the season tonight when they host the Sikeston Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs are 1-1 on the season, after suffering a big week one loss to Gateway Tech, but fresh from an explosive offensive performance against Charleston last week.
Head coach Aaron Pixley felt the team had a solid week of practices, and noted Sikeston’s speed as the main area of concern.
“[Practice has] been going well,” Pixley commented. “I always feel that we can get better at a lot of things, I think we can practice better a lot of times. We’ve had excellent moments, and some not so great, but overall, we’ve had solid practices all week.”
“I’m concerned with their [Sikeston’s] speed, period. One of the fastest teams around, if not the fastest. It’s just something that we’ll have to line up right and execute. The only way to beat speed is by being in the right spot and doing your job,” Pixley continued. “Alignment, assignment, and then explode.”
Pixley felt the team struggled with tackling after last week’s contest with Park Hills, and noted that the same mistakes cannot be made against the Bulldogs.
”When we do get there on defense, we have to tackle - if we’re sloppy with tackling and miss, they’ll take it to the house every time,” he said.
The ‘Cats received some great news yesterday: running back/linebacker Nick Summers is cleared to play in the contest.
Summers suffered a shoulder injury during the Park Hills game and was pulled after the first half for precautionary measures, but after an appointment with team physician Dr. Bobby Jibben on Thursday, the senior has been given the ‘green light’ to be on the field in full capacity tonight.
"I can't believe we were that close to holding [Nick] out this Friday," Pixley said. "Nick is a playmaker and we sure are glad to have him in the lineup.”
The contest between Dexter and Sikeston at Charles Bland Stadium is set to get underway at 7:00 p.m.
If you can’t make it to the game, make sure to check out our Facebook or Twitter page for updates on the score and big plays!
SBU Football to host Arkansas Tech in Home Opener on Saturday, September 10
Last week, the scoring for SBU was started in the first half by Raymond Segura returning an interception 28 yards for the touchdown. The Interception was the fire that SBU need to get their offiense moving. During the 2nd half, SBU came out on fire and scored three straight tuchdowns. Two of the scores came from Justin Duhaney and Thad Everson who both recorded rushing touchdowns. Justin French also had one passing touchdown that come late in 3rd quarter when he connected with Derwyn Lauderdale for a 16 yard score.
Things are looking good for the Bearcats as they go into the next game this weekend against the Wonder Boys. Coach Allen’s theme contiunes to be “Leave no Doubt”. He wants all of his athlets to have the mind set of “Every day you come to work, every day you’ve got to get better, every day you have to compete.”
Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. from Plaster Stadium in Bolivar.
For more information on SBU Bearcat Athletics, visit sbubearcats.com.
By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor
The Lady ‘Cats keep on winning on the volleyball courts - both squads picked up relatively easy wins during Thursday night’s contest against the NMCC Lady Eagles.
In JV action, the ‘Cats breezed through the first set, 25-9, before facing some stiffer competition in the second, but they still picked up a 25-17 win - they have yet to lose a set this season.
The Varsity squad picked up where the JV left off, and cruised to 25-11 and 25-6 victories.
Head coach Lauren Hutchcraft was very pleased with her squads’ performance.
“In terms of effort, I feel my girls played just the way I expected them to. Of course, we made some mistakes here and there, but that's to be expected,” Hutchcraft noted. “Overall,their effort was pretty good. We can always move our feet quicker on defense to pick up balls, but I'm overall pleased with their effort, attitude, and good spirits!”
Senior McKenzie Mitchell led the way for the ‘Cats in the contest; She racked up 4 digs, 3 kills, 6 aces, and was an astounding 19 for 19 from the service line, including a 14 serve rally in the first set. Teammate Hannah Noe, a sophomore, racked 16 assists in the contest.
“McKenzie had a good game this evening,” Hutchcraft continued. “She is a great server and that showed tonight, especially in the first set with five aces! I can always count on her to really attack the ball when she's on front row, too, which will be crucial tomorrow night against Notre Dame.”
The Lady ‘Cats will face district rival - and a major volleyball powerhouse for the last decade - Notre Dame tomorrow night during the SEMO Tournament, held in both the ShowMe Center and the Notre Dame High School gym. This matchup will be a great ‘preview’ game for the ‘Cats, as they usually don’t get to face the Lady Bulldogs until the week before districts.
The 'Cats will have 'pool play' games Friday evening and Saturday morning, with the tournament bracket kicking off Saturday afternoon.
“The top team from each pool will advance to the Gold bracket; the second team will go to the Silver; and the third team will go to the Bronze,” Hutchcraft said. “The SEMO Tournament will be a good tournament for anyone wanting to watch some good volleyball in the area!”
The full bracket for the tournament can be printed out here.
