Liberty, Mo. - The SBU Bearcats football team moved to 5-1 on the season with an impressive 35-0 victory over William Jewell College on Saturday afternoon. The Bearcat defense recorded their first shut out of the 2011 season, while the offense scored a season high 35 points.

The Bearcats rushing attack continued to be an impressive asset to the Bearcat offense. As a team, SBU had 259 rushing yards, and five rushing touchdowns, spread over six different rushers. Dan Connors lead the rushing attack with 58 yards on 14 carriers. After a scoreless first quarter, SBU jumped out to a 7-0 lead on a Connors 5 yard touchdown run. Later in the second quarter, Thaddeus Everson ran in another Bearcat touchdown from 6 yards out to put SBU up 14-0 at the half.

SBU came out early in the third quarter when Derwyn Lauderdale took a handoff from Connors and turned it into an impressive 55 yard touchdown run to put SBU up 21-0. The Bearcats would add touchdowns from Tiras Harris from five yards out, and Chris Culbreth from six yards out to seal a 35-0 victory.

On the defense side of the ball, the Bearcats were lead in tackling by Nathaniel Belak with 7.5 tackles. The Bearcats recorded two crucial sacks, one by Dexter native Glen Johnson and the other by Kourtney Bennett. Chris Muhammad had a solid defensive game, blocking a field goal attempt, forcing a fumble, and recording 4.5 tackles. As a team, the Bearcats recorded seven tackles for lost yardage.

"I was very pleased with our entire team's effort and execution today," head coach Keith Allen commented after the win. "Our offense took care of the ball and scored points in the red zone. Defensively we had some missed tackles but the kids rallied and made plays. We played fundamentally sound football today. I told our team enjoy the win today, but tomorrow its time to go to work and be 1-0 next Saturday."

The Bearcats will travel to Central State University on October 15 as part of their three game road trip. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m.

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Southwest Baptist University is a four-year evangelical Christian university that was established in 1878. The main campus is located about 30 minutes north of Springfield, Missouri, in Bolivar, a town of approximately 10,000 people.

DHS alum Glen Johnson is a defensive lineman for the Bearcats.

For more information on SBU Bearcat Athletics, visit sbubearcats.com.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The atmosphere was electric Friday night at Charles Bland Stadium - it was homecoming night, and the Bearcats faced off against one of the toughest teams on their schedule: the Caruthersville Tigers.


Despite trailing 41-28 at halftime, the ‘Cats defense stepped up in a big way during the second half, and the Bearcats scratched out a come-from-behind 56-55 victory.


Head coach Aaron Pixley noted Caruthersville’s talent after the game, and was very pleased with his defense’s second-half heroics.

“We stepped up in the second half and played much, much better, and we really needed to. The offense was playing pretty darn good in the first half, we scored 28 points, and typically you’re winning games like that,” he said. “We just had to tackle better - we talk about it all the time. We switched defenses and went to an odd front - we did that right before half and it started working, we started getting some stops, and we stuck with it in the second half.”


“We made them punt quite a bit, and that’s key against a great team like [Caruthersville]. It doesn’t really matter where they are on the field; a yard line doesn’t mean anything to them,” Pixley continued. “They can score from anywhere, and we did a much better job in the second half; this football team did a great job of coming together and playing for each other after halftime.”

“[Caruthersville is] one of the best teams in southeast MIssouri, regardless of class. They’re outstanding, and they're going to go a long way, I truly believe that. It was a great win for us.”

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The ‘Cats were led defensively by senior middle linebackers Alex Cliff and Nick Summers, who had 5 and 10 tackles, respectively.

“I feel like we switched some things up and we all came together and really pulled through,” Cliff said after the game. “We played for each other and not for one person - it was a team effort.”

The defensive unit made a huge stop on a two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter. Elbie Fonda, after breaking a 36 yard TD run, was stuffed at the goal line to preserve the Bearcats’ 56-55 lead.

“That was huge - we were exhausted on that play. I almost called a timeout right there just to give them a blow,” Pixley said of the play. “It kind of looked like [Fonda] was going in, but we really filled hard from the backside and kicked him out; that was huge. They held on and played with so much heart and desire. Again, I’m really proud of this football team - it was a total team effort.”

Senior cornerback Garrett Wray made a crucial interception with under a minute left on the clock - the Tigers came out on their last possession throwing balls deep down the field, but Wray popped in front of a Tiger receiver to get the pick and seal the Bearcat victory.


Dexter’s offense had an outstanding performance all game long, racking up over 550 yards of total offense. Josh Overall netted 121 yards on 14 rushes for 4 TD’s; quarterback Cody Stevens rushed 24 times for 218 yards and 2 TDs, and completed 9-15 passes for 139 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT.


The Bearcats’ offensive line dominated during the course of the game - the ‘Big Nasties’ didn’t allow any sacks and only one negative play from scrimmage in the contest.


“I’m happy about it. I feel good about the win,” left tackle Zach Lacy said after the game. “They’re a good team. I just feel like we can clean up a few things, things were ugly at times”


“The O-line dominated them,” Stevens said of the offensive line. “They came out hitting them, drove them back five or six yards every play. We had big holes to run through, Josh and Nick got through there. Passing offense was awesome, they blocked really good tonight.”

Coach Pixley was extremely pleased with the team’s offensive production, as well as the continuation of his offensive line’s outstanding play.


“Offensively, we played extremely well. We were very good up front - the quarterbacks and running backs ran the ball extremely well, and when we threw it, we made plays in the passing game. Total team effort,” Pixley said.

“It took us a little while, they’re big and strong up front on defense. We were making some plays, but as the first quarter kept going on and got into the second quarter, I really feel like we were very physical, more physical than they were up front. We really started taking control of the line of scrimmage. Late second quarter, going into the second half, I felt like we controlled the line of scrimmage on the defensive side and stopping the run well.”

With the win, the ‘Cats advance to 6-1 (2-0 conference) on the season, and look to begin the ‘second season’ next week, when they open District play against the Kennett Indians.

“We come in every game like it’s the biggest game of the season. Every single one, one at a time...that’s how we take it,” Cliff said of the Indians. “Their quarterback, played against him for a few years. He’s a very talented kid and they still have talent in the backfield, they always do.”


Pixley noted the potential scoring threat the Indians’ offense poses, but feels his squad is up to the task.

“From what I understand, they can score a lot of points. That’s scary, but we’re going to watch film on them,” he said. “They’re a very much improved football team, and they’re going to play us hard and give us everything they have. We’re going to go to Kennett, hopefully focused and ready to go and play as hard as we can.”


Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.


For a full breakdown of the game’s stats, click here.

Bolivar, Mo. - The SBU Bearcats will hit the road for a three game road trip with the first match-up coming this Saturday at William Jewell. The Bearcats played tough defense, and once again had excellent quarterback play from Dan Connors, to seal the 28-12 victory last week over Urbana. The Bearcats look to continue their winning streak to three seasons after a record of (7-4) in the 2010 season.

The Bearcat offense continues to click, as Dan Connors leads the Bearcats in passing yards (865) and touchdown passes (6). Connors is currently averaging 216.2 yards through the air, and 53.5 yards on the ground for the Bearcats, while having a completion percentage of 71.6%. Charles Johnson remains the leading receiver for the Bearcats, averaging 70.4 yards per game, with four total touchdowns on the season. Behind Connors, Thad Everson is the leading rusher for the Bearcats, averaging 44.0 yards per game.

The Bearcat defense is lead Zach Moore with 45 tackles and two blocked kicks on the season. Casey Smith and Deshawn Ross lead SBU with 2.0 sacks a piece, while Austin Otwell and Chris Muhammad share the team high with two interceptions apiece on the season.

Dexter native Glen Johnson continues to see playing time on the Bearcat defense. Johnson, a 2008 graduate of DHS, converted from Linebacker to Defensive End early in his collegiate career, and has had great success in the Bearcats' defensive line rotation.

The Bearcats are two wins away from having their third consecutive winning season as they go into the next game this weekend against William Jewell. Coach Allen’s theme continues to be “Leave no Doubt”. He wants all of his athletes 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.”

The Coaches

Keith Allen has already engineered a significant turnaround at SBU, moving the ‘Cats from 0-11 his first year as interim coach, to 5-6 in 2008, to the winning record of 6-5 in 2009, and followed up with a 7-4 record in 2010. Allen is currently the winningest coach in SBU history with 22 total wins. Allen served as defensive and recruiting coordinator before being named SBU head coach in 2007. His past coaching experience has included stops at San Jose State, Quincy, TCU and Oklahoma.

Jarod Kruse is in his season as the head coach at William Jewell College. The Cardinal football team improved their record by three wins and finished among the top in the nation in many statistical categories in 2010.

Scouting the Cardinals

The Cardinals enter into this weekend with a 1-3 record, coming off of a 45-7 loss to Pittsburg State.

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Southwest Baptist University is a four-year evangelical Christian university that was established in 1878. The main campus is located about 30 minutes north of Springfield, Missouri, in Bolivar, a town of approximately 10,000 people.

DHS alum Glen Johnson is a defensive lineman for the Bearcats.

For more information on SBU Bearcat Athletics, visit sbubearcats.com.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The Lady Bearcats fought hard in the annual Dig Pink! Game on Thursday night, but ultimately wound up splitting the match with the Poplar Bluff Lady Mules.

The JV squad, still unbeaten on the season, picked up 25-10 and 25-20 wins to claim their match.


The Lady ‘Cats scratched their way back into the game during the third set of the Varsity match, putting together a rally while down 20-24 to tie the set at 24 all, but Bluff was able to come out on top in the three-set win - 25-27, 25-19, 24-26.


Coach Lauren Hutchcraft felt her squad’s defensive effort was the key flaw in the Lady ‘Cats’ performance.

“Our defensive effort was lacking, especially on the back row,” she said. “Our blocking was good - Jessica, Brittany, Hannah, and Erika did a great job of that - but the back row was a little weak tonight. That was our main problem.”


Hutchcraft’s front row players - Jessica Lindsey, Brittany Harris, Hannah Noe, and Erika Cobb - combined for 25 blocks in the contest. The squad also racked up 32 kills.


“We missed four serves tonight, two in the third set,” Hutchcraft continued. “Those are points you just can’t miss at all.”

The squad has only been in three-set matches a handful of times this year, and Hutchcraft said that was also part of the problem.

“It could be fatigue, but they just stopped talking,” she said. “When you have a breakdown in communication, then that effects everyone on the floor. When you don’t talk, you don’t know what’s going on.”


The Lady ‘Cats will be in action again next week, when they head to Advance for the SCAA Tournament.

“County tournament will really be anybody’s game. There’s a strong group in this county, and it will be an exciting time for all teams,” Hutchcraft said. “Hopefully we have a good crowd there, because it could go any way, it just depends what team shows up to play.”

The JV ‘Cats drew the No. 1 seed, and won’t play until Thursday at 5:00 p.m., when they face the winner of the Bloomfield (No. 4)/Richland (No. 5) match. The Varsity squad earned the No. 2 spot, and they will be in action Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m., when they face Woodland (No. 7).


Tournament brackets can be downloaded and printed out here.




By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The Dexter Bearcats will face one of the toughest opponents of the season on Friday night when they play host to the Caruthersville Tigers.


Both teams are top ten in the state in their respective classes - Dexter is currently ranked No. 7 in Class 3, and Caruthersville is currently ranked No. 2 in Class 2.

The Bearcats were a little banged for last week’s contest against Charleston. Tyler Miller (bruised quadriceps), Nick Summers (concussion), and Dylan Aaron (shoulder) all had to sit out with injuries - but coach Aaron Pixley noted his squad would be back at 100% for Friday’s SEMO Conference showdown.

“This week, everybody will be back, including Dylan, who has been out for a while,” Pixley said. “We’re going to go ahead and start him out at guard, but keep an eye on him and check on his conditioning. So far, we’ll be going into the game at full strength.”

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The Tigers are led offensively by the speedy Elbie Fonda. The 5’9”, 180 lb. Senior is averaging just over 170 yards per game and 11 yards per carry, and poses a significant ‘big play’ threat to the Bearcat D.

“I think they’ve realized that they’ll have to play very well,” Pixley said of his defense. “They run the ball extremely well at Caruthersville, and our kids know they’re going to have to tackle and tackle well. They know if they’re not in the backside alleys, their backs will cut back, get into space and run.”

“They know what they have to do - you have to know your responsibilities, make sure you’re lined up correctly, get downhill and play the run hard, and when they throw it, get some pressure on the quarterback and make good pass reads,” he continued. “We have to make something happen defensively, and we understand that it’s going to be a very tough game.”

On top of the sheer talent of the Tigers, the team faces another foe Friday: Homecoming. Potential distractions abound with all the extra activites the week brings, but Pixley didn’t feel it was a big issue for his team this year.

“We were a little sluggish on Tuesday, but we really picked it up on Wednesday and had a good Thursday practice, so it’s been a good week for us,” Pixley commented. “I haven’t seen a sign of anything that has gone on that has distracted them. I don’t look for that - I hope we come out of that locker room ready to play and fired up, because we’re going to have to be that way for four quarters against these guys.”

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Charles Bland Stadium, with the Homecoming Queen festivities scheduled for 6:30.

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As always, if you can’t make it to the game, I’ll be Tweeting the scores and big plays of the contest from the sidelines - just keep checking back with our Facebook or Twitter page for updates!