By Staff Writer, ShowMe Times
Dexter, Mo. — A great tradition to get the 2012 football season started was the 36th Annual Lions All-Star Football Game held this past Saturday evening at the University of Central Missouri, in Warrensburg, MO. Even more importantly, the roster of the Blue Team was filled with three of our very own DHS Bearcats in Zach Lacy, Cody Stevens and Tyler Miller.
With the style of a great prizefight, the Blue and Gold Teams exchanged offensive blows throughout the first three quarters of the game. The gloves came off for an unbelievable 4th Quarter filled with fast moving offensive drives and an unpredictable interception to give the Blue Team the victory over the Gold Team - Blue 26 - Gold 23.
The Blue Team was coached by Nathan Morgan from Caruthersville High School, and the Gold Team was coached by Dustin Baldwin from Miller H.S. These two gentleman knew where their strengths were, and when it came down to the final minutes of the game, they went to their “money” players.
Stevens came in as quarterback for the Blue team in the 4th Quarter to quickly contribute to the rushing game. An unfortunate fumble by Fonda (Caruthersville) gave the ball back to the Gold Team and they went to work.
The Gold Team hooked up quickly on a 56 Yard Touchdown pass from Kraeger to Vandiver to put the Gold on top by a score of 16 to 12 with 8:25 left in the ballgame. This drive only lasted for nine seconds and gave the Gold Team their first lead of the game.
Quickly, the Blue Team went back to work offensively with 9-yard by L B Fonda., followed by a 13-yard run by Sitze into Gold Territory at the 7:57 mark. With first and 10 on the Gold 31 yard line, a long pass was tossed to open receiver and Bearcat standout, Tyler Miller. The Gold team defender was flagged for interference on the play, adding to their 12 penalties for 79 yards in the game.
The interference call gave the Blue Team a 1st and 10 at the 16 yard line. Bearcat Cody Stevens made his third carry of the night, taking the football all the way down to the 5 yard line. Cody continued his pursuit by advancing the ball to the 2-yard line before L B Fonda came back into the game to deliver a 2-yard quarterback sneak for a Blue Team touchdown. The extra point by Williams was good and with 5:54 remaining in the 4th Quarter, the Blue Team had regained the lead with a 71-yard drive making the score 19 to 16.
On the next drive, the Gold Team didn’t find the going as easy. Tyler Miller delivered a big tackle on Gold Receiver, Kempker. The Blue Team gave a tough defensive stand. With 4th Down and 1 yard to go from the 16 yard line, Krauger perfectly executed a quarterback draw up the middle to the endzone for another Gold Team score. With only 2:33 remaining in the game, the Gold Team took a four point lead in the contest.
With three touchdowns in the fourth period, sports fans might think that the fireworks were about to fizzle out for the Blue team. It had been a back and forth game for most of the night. The Blue team had one crack to pull out the dramatics and regain the lead with only 2:24 remaining.
The Gold kickoff was received at the five and returned to the 18 yard line. With 82 yards to cover and all the potential to cover it, L B Fonda appeared to be stopped with only a modest gain. However, Fonda kept his feet pumping and churning to carry the ball out to the 31 yard line.
Coach Nathan Norman offered a familiar call to his offense again, as Fonda expanded his running totals to 116 yards on the night., carrying the ball down to the 39 yard line. The Blue Team was back in business with a 1st down with 1:52 remaining in the game.
Stevens added a 2 yard gain, followed by a 6 yard gain on a quarterback sweep. With only 60 seconds remaining on the game clock, the Blue Team had a 3rd Down and 4 attempt from the 27 yard line.
With Fonda back in at his running back position, he took the ball up the middle for his first touchdown run of the night and capping off a monster drive for the Blue Team. At the 0:42 mark, the extra point was good by Cass-Midway’s Tyler Williams, making the score 26-23 in favor of the Blue Team.
With State Championship effort by these athletes, the Gold Team was not finished. Out of shotgun formation, Tom Lathrop caught his first pass of the night at the Blue Team 45-yard line. Kreuger delivered on a huge reception to his favorite receiver on the night, Kempker, all the way down to the Blue 4 yard line.
Knocking at the door and only seconds remaining on the clock, Kreuger backed up to make a pass into the endzone that was picked off by Blue team Benjamin Sitze. Blue Team escaped the contest with a 26 to 23 victory.
The Dexter Bearcat athletes made their hometown proud with great performances by Zach Lacy on the offensive line, Cody Stevens in the offensive backfield and Tyler Miller on both offensve (WR) and defense (DB). Statistically, Cody finished the night unofficially with 5 carries for 22 yards. Tyler Miller had 2 receptions for 44 yards, 1 TD, 5 tackles and 1 INT on the night. As usual, Zach Lacy delivered a stellar job on the offensive line that Coach Greg Lummukka would grade superb.
L B Fonda of Caruthersville finished the night for the Blue Team with a 9.2 yard average on 16 carries for 148 yards and 1 touchdown.
Blue 26 - Gold 23
Missouri Lions all-star players had a week-long camp that began Sunday July 15th and culminated with a victory for the Blue Team. The young athletes were hosted on the University of Central Missouri campus during the week and went through various team workouts.
Westran High School varsity football coach Curtis Jasper was the featured speaker at the pregame banquet held on July 20th on the campus of UCM. Jasper served as a head coach of one of the all-star teams last year
The Lions All-Star Football Game is a very worthy cause as this event is a major fundraiser for the Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation. The All-Star Game features some of Missouri’s top senior high school players who graduated last May.
In addition, some of the state’s top high school band seniors are also chosen to comprise a Missouri Lion’s All-Star Band. These individuals perform during the game and at halftime of the event.
By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor
With summer drawing to a close, the last weekend of the Rib City Shootout is scheduled to get underway this morning at the Bearcat Event Center.
The final weekend of this summer's shootout will feature 28 girls basketball teams (spanning four states) in the middle school, junior varsity, and varsity divisions.
The Middle School Lady Bearcats will kick things off 10:30 a.m. on the eighth grade level and 6:00 p.m. on the seventh grade level.
The JV Lady 'Cats will open the day in a 12:00 p.m. contest, while the Varsity squad kicks things off at 2:15 p.m.
Click here to download a full copy of the weekend's schedule!
Good luck Squirrels!
Above, DHS Football alum Brandon Moore demonstrates proper blocking technique to a group of youngsters.
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