Thursday night at Charles Bland Stadium the Middle School Bearcats took the field in a pair of contests against the visiting Kennett Indians. The 8th Grade Cats lost a high scoring affair by the final of 52-34. The 7th grade contest ended with the Bearcats suffering a loss by the score of 44-6.
The 8th Grade Bearcats came out strong in the first quarter, looking to avenge a 60 point loss last season to the same Kennett squad.
In the first quarter, both teams put on an offensive show, combining for 40 total points in the opening frame. The two teams went on to score a total of 86 points in the game.
On Kennett's opening drive, a hard hit by Jason Jarrell forced a fumble that was recovered by Dexter's Justin Bess on the Kennett 40 yard line. The Bearcats wasted no time in capitalizing on the turnover, as Jarrell connected with Zach Potts on a 36 yard TD pass. Jarrell hooked up with Blake Palmer on a screen pass for the succesfull 2 point conversion, and the Bearcats took an early 8-0 lead.
The Indians responded quickly, scoring on long runs of 65 yards and 40 yards to take a 12-8 lead midway through the opening quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Bearcats Jason Jarrell streaked down the sideline and found the end zone on an 85 yard kickoff return for a touchdown. The extra point failed, but the Bearcats found themselves back on top by the score of 14-12.
Kennett bounced right back, finding success in their running game. After driving deep into Bearcat territory, Kennett QB Kyle Joyner swept around the right side, finding the end zone and pushing the Indians back into the lead by the score of 20-12.
Finding rushing yards hard to come by, the Bearcats put the ball back in the air. Dexter QB Jason Jarrell connected with Payton Tinnin on a 25 yard pass play that set up a 6 yard TD run by Gavin Northcutt, knotting the score 20-20 at the end of a very exciting first quarter of play.
In the 2nd quarter, the Kennett defense came up big, forcing 3 consecutive turnovers by the Bearcats (fumble, interception, interception) and held the Bearcats scoreless in the 2nd quarter. Kennett made the most of the turnovers, returning the fumble and one of the interceptions back for touchdowns. At halftime, the Indians had extended their lead to 38-20.
To open the 3rd quarter, Dexter's QB Jason Jarrell quickly got the Bearcats right back in the game. He returned the second half kickoff 37 yards, and then later in the series he galloped down the field for 23 more yards, setting up a 2 yard touchdown run. The 2 point conversion failed, but the Bearcats had narrowed the Kennett lead to 12 points.
The final period opened with an 8 yard TD run by Kennett's Joyner, extending the Indians lead to 46-26. However, the Bearcats did not give up. Following back-to-back pass completions by Jarrell of 34 and 27 yards, the Bearcats quickly moved deep into Kennett territory. This great offensive scoring drive was capped off with a 5 yd TD rush by Jarrell and the Kennett lead was reduced to 46-34.
Late in the game, Kennett QB Joyner placed an exclamation point on the victory by sweeping right and accelerating down the sideline for a 55 yard touchdown run. The score capped off an impressive rushing attack from the Indians, as they finished the game with over 250 yards gained on the ground.
The Bearcats were led in offensive production by Jason Jarrell, who finished with 2 rushing TD's, 1 passing TD, and a kickoff returned for a TD. Jarrell finished with 5 of 11 passing for a total of 123 yards. Payton Tinnin led the team with 52 yards receiving on 2 catches. The Bearcats were led in rushing by Bryce Simmons, who amassed 37 yards on 7 carries. Simmons, who normally plays TE, ran the ball very effectively.
With the loss, the 8th grade Bearcats move to 0-2 on the season.
In 7th grade action, the Kennett rushing attack was too much for the Cats to overcome, and the Indians came away with a victory in the opening game.
Kennett scored 4 times in the first half on rushing plays of 2, 40, 24 and 22 yards. After an impressive first half from the offense, the Indians went into the locker room with a 28-0 lead at the break.
The lone Bearcat score came in the third quarter when Dexter QB Nick Trout found Clayton Riddle over the middle, and Riddle outran the Kennett secondary on his way to a 72 yard TD.
In the second half the game plan for Kennett remained the same. They were able to use their size advantage and quickness to run the ball effectively inside and out. They Indians picked up two more rushing touchdowns in the second half that covered 5 and 55 yards respectively. With the loss, the 7th grade Bearcats move to 0-3 on the season.
The Middle School Bearcats football teams will be back in action next Thursday night, as both teams look to pick up their first win of the season against the Chaffee Red Devils. The 7th grade action is sceduled to start at 5pm, followed immediately by the 8th grade game.
Jessica Snider SMT Writer
They did just that as they took the victory over Bell City in just two sets.
The first set was a close one, but Dexter walked away with a 25-21 defeat. During the second set, the Bearcats kept their opponent’s score to a minimum as they left town with a 25-12 upset over Bell City for the second set that ended the game.
The Bearcats will have a busy week next week as they are set to play three games. Monday the Bearcats will travel to Advance for the first game of the week. Dexter stays at home on Tuesday, as Leopold will come to town. Thursday night will wrap things up for the week with a game in the Bearcat Event Center against Sikeston.
All games will have a 6:00 P.M. start time with Junior Varsity playing first and Varsity following directly after.
Shown in the above photo is Sophomore Shyann Jines on defense ready to make a pass.
Stats from yesterday's game are provided below:
From an offensive standpoint, the story was nearly all Chase Young as he gave everything he had on the fields in hopes of his team finding a victory. His returns, his catches and even his rushing the football were near spectacular. For the second week in a row, Chase is undeniably the SMT Offensive Player of the Week for Week Four..
From a Defensive perspective, the Bearcats had a good performance as a team as they battled the ultra fast, ultra quick speed of the Tigers. It was a challenge for the 'Cats in the second half as big plays took over and created a lopsided victory for Caruthersville..
However, the play of Junior cornerback, Trevor Waldner was exceptional on the night as he ran down 12 tackles for the Bearcats. It has been a great addition to have Trevor in the lineup this season and he proved his value to the team with his performance last Friday night. For that, Trevor is honored as the Week Four SMT Defensive Player of the Week.
The ShowMe Times is proud to highlight the individual performance of two Dexter Bearcat Football student-athletes each week as the SMT Players of the Week. No one individual's contribution wins a game or makes the team strong. Yet the coordinated effort of many make for a winning combination.
Written by
Jessica Snider SMT Writer
It was beautiful weather as the Lady Bearcat Tennis team took on the Cape Central Tigers yesterday afternoon.
Varsity took the win with a big 7-1 victory over the tigers. Junior Varsity won the match as well with a 3-0 victory.
The number two match on varsity was not played due to an injury. Only one doubles team on junior varsity participated in doubles, as only two members of junior varsity participated in the singles portion of the match.
Despite a little change of the line up, both junior varsity and varsity left the match with big wins.
The closest match of the day was that of the number one singles between Dexter’s Cooper and Cape’s Tegel. After a hard fought match, Cooper pulled ahead with an 8-6 victory.
Shown in the above photo is left-handed MaryKate Miller returning a forehand to her opponent.
Results of yesterday’s match are shown below.
Expectations are that this will be quite a contest for both teams tonight. Both 7th and 8th grade teams have fought hard this season but the Bearcats continue to look for their first win on both grade levels.
The 8th grade team has only been able to play one game this season due to the cancellation of their contest against the Jackson Indians. Both teams were ready to take the field when lightning cancelled the game for both grades.
In the season opener against the Portageville Bulldogs, the eighth graders found the running game difficult to handle as they lost that contest 54 - 28.
"We moved the ball pretty well during the Portageville game," commented head coach Mike Vipperman. "But the big plays just killed us."
Vipperman continued, "we have been working hard to contain the sweeps with our cornerbacks and linebackers. We've made good progress and hope that will show tonight against Kennett."
The 8th grade will be missing fullback and middle linebacker, Jake Adams. Adams has been a force for the Bearcats but will be unavailable for play tonight.
Bryce Simmons is expected to be able to step in to replace Adams at his fullback position. Simmons is normally a tightend for the 'Cats but is big, strong and shifty coming out of the backfield. Quarterback Jason Jarrell and running back Gavin Northcutt are both strong threats for the 8th grade team. Northcutt is questionable for tonight due to a mid-week injury.
Scouting reports indicate that both teams for the Indians are really good. They are big, fast and difficult to contain around the ends. Their running backs have decent size and quick out of the backfield. The Bearcats will certainly be tested on their containment skills tonight.
Coaches Mike Vipperman and Drew Pixley have their teams ready for tonights contest.
The seventh grade team has struggled to get their scoring machine going yet this season. They have played two games this season, falling to Portageville by a score of 31 to 6 and losing to East Prairie 35 to 0.
"We actually see a lot of potential in this group," says Coach Vipperman. "They are just young and just learning our offensive system."
As the 7th Grade continues to gain valuable experience, they have some top athletes to get the job done. The quarterback position is rotated between Nick Trout and Ben Sindel, each bringing strong talents to the position.
"Trout does a great job of reading the defense with a powerful arm to throw the football," brags Vipperman. "Sindel brings the running dynamic to the game. It's a great combination for us."
Running back Marcus Woodson is out for tonights contest with a pulled muscle in his forearm. Matt Stone will be stepping in his slot and expected to handle that job well for the 'Cats.The offensive lines of both teams are good highlights. The 8th grade team is of more average size but extremely physical in their play. Coaches noted that they are very quick and fire off the ball really well.
The 7th grade offensive line is big and strong. The next questions is typically "how do they move". The coaches pointed out that this group of linemen have excellent footwork and should be a group to watch in the future.
The head coach for the Middle School team this year has a great quality. Coach Mike Vipperman heads up the trio of coaches as the head man on the sidelines, organizing and keeping everything running well. Coach Chris Bolin leads the defensive team and Coach Drew Pixley runs the offense for the 'Cats.
"Having a good middle school program is vital to what we do at the high school level," commented Bearcat Head Coach Aaron Pixley. "Learning the fundamentals and basics is key to being a quality football program and our coaches do a great job of instilling these qualities into the young athletes."
Be sure to make plans to come out to the game tonight and support these young men. It's a very exciting time for them as they improve their skills of the game.
