Dexter, Missouri - There's nothing better in high school football than a dramatic come from behind win. The Bearcats were hoping for a little "pay-back" from last year's District play-off game. The Tigers won that game 38-0 in 2017. Dexter rallied from a 14-0 deficit to win 28-20 at their home opener at Charles Bland Stadium on Friday night.
The boys of fall knew it would take a team effort to beat the Tigers. Dexter rushed for 259 yards with two players gaining more than 100 yards each. Corbin Strong rushed for 139 yards on 13 carries, scoring two touchdowns and Caleb Hoggard rushed for 118 yards on 19 carries.
Tristan Newman scored two touchdowns in the first quarter. Both extra points were good giving Salem a 14-0 lead.
Corbin Strong cross the goal line putting Dexter on the scoreboard; however the extra two point conversion failed.
Trailing 14-6 at the half the 'Cats made adjustments in the 3rd and 4th quarters scoring three touchdowns for their first win of the season.
Dexter tied the game in the third quarter when Mason Keena recovered a bad snap by the Tigers. It was his second recovery for the night giving the Bearcats great field advantage. Corbin Strong's two-point conversion run tied the game at 14-14.
Quarterback Peyton Driskill threw a perfect pass to Nate Gargas for a 5-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. Caleb Hoggard’s point after attempt was good to give Dexter a 21-14 lead.
Salem's Tristan Newman scored his third touchdown of the night, a 19-yard run. The Bearcats blocked the point after attempt and held their 21-20 lead.
Corbin Strong finished the night off with a 12-yard touchdown run. Caleb Hoggard hit the extra point keeping the Bearcats up by 8 points, 28-20.
“Make no mistake about it. It took the whole football team,” commented Dexter head football coach Aaron Pixley. “It wasn’t one guy. This win was a team win. They all are. I think it’s easy to talk about the big play. … But our offensive and defensive line had to show up. That’s kind of how we’re built. We have to play well up front, and we’re capable of it. We just have to get more consistent.”
The Bearcats rushed for 320 total yards, while holding Salem to 240 yards.
“Their offense is very difficult to defend,” Pixley stated. “We bent, but we came up with some huge plays.”
Final Scored Salem 20, Dexter 28
Salem 14 0 0 6 - 20
Dexter 0 6 8 14 - 28
First Quarter
S - Tristan Newman 1 run (Nick Holliday kick), 6:20
S - Newman 24 run (Holliday kick), 4:07
Second Quarter
D - Corbin Strong 1 run (run failed), 9:59
Third Quarter
D - Mason Keena fumble recovery in end zone (Strong run), 3:51
Fourth Quarter
D - Nate Gargas 5-yard pass from Peyton Driskill (Caleb Hoggard kick), 10:17
S - Newman 19 yard run (kick blocked), 6:32
D - Corbin Strong 12 run (Caleb Hoggard kick), 1:45.
TEAM STATISTICS
First Downs Salem 15, Dexter 17
Total Yards Salem 240, Dexter 320
Rushes-Yards Salem 45-138, Dexter 37-259
Passing Yards Salem 102, Dexter 61
Comp-Att-Int Salem 6-10-0, Dexter 4-12-1
Penalties-Yards Salem 3-26, Dexter 6-35
Fumbles-Lost Salem 2-2, Dexter 2-2
Turnovers Salem 2, Dexter 3
Individual Stats
RUSHING — Salem -- Chandler Gray 15-13, Tristan Newman 12-74. Dexter -- Caleb Hoggard 19-118, Corbin Strong 13-139, Jett Featherston 2-6, Peyton Driskill 2-2, Ryder Foster 1-(-6).
PASSING — Salem -- Chandler Gray 6-10-0-102. Dexter -- Peyton Driskill 4-12-1-61.
RECEIVING — Salem -- Boone Schrader 3-57. Dexter -- Nate Gargas 2-18, Justin Kenley 1-31, Braxton Foster 1-12.
The Dexter (1-1) Bearcats will travel to New Madrid County Central on Friday, September 7, 2018. Kick-off at 7:00 p.m.
Dexter, Missouri - T.S. Hill Middle School's Cross Country team will begin their 2018 season at Jackson on Tuesday, September 4, 2018.
Girls roster: Abbie Loyd, Alexis Womble, Abigail Ellis, Allysa Gross, Peyton Greely, Hanner Kyle, and Brooklynn Taber.
Boys roster: Ayden Palmer, Cameron Edwards, Kyle Mason , Gabe Ingram, Jackson Christian, Clayton Bell, Ryan Duncan
Middle School Cross Country Schedule:
9/4 at Jackson 4:00pm
9/15 at Cape Central 9:00am
9/18 at Oak Ridge 5:30pm
9/25 Dexter Middle School Invitational 4:00pm
9/29 at Notre Dame 9:30am
10/4 at Saxony Lutheran 4:00pm
10/8 SCAA Quad Meet 4:00pm
10/11 SEMO Conference 4:00pm
10/20 Dexter Invitational 11:00am
Ste. Genevieve, Missouri - It's not how the Bearcats wanted to start their 2018 football season. Their defense held the Dragons to just three touchdowns throughout Friday night's game, but the Dexter offense has got to score some touchdowns to win their games.
"I felt like most of our players were giving everything they've got," commented Dexter head football coach Aaron Pixley. "I think that we still have some people hesitating a little bit. Whenever you hesitate, you create huge gaps for people to get into. I think that happened."
"But at the same time I say that we made a lot of big stops, made a lot of big plays on the defense. We had two stops inside the 12 yard line, one of them was inside the 3 I believe," continued Pixley. "That was big for us. It was very positive for us. I think that our two inside linebackers had a big night."
Dexter's two main linebackers, Jett Featherston and Corbin Strong has a great night. Strong had 11 tackles, five assists, one tackle for a loss and one fumble recovery. Featherston had 8 tackles, five assists and one tackle for a loss.
Hillis had some really good runs, especially in the second quarter. I have to make sure everyone is doing their job. That falls on me. When we lose it's my fault. I have to find a way to make us better by Friday night," continued Pixley. "Nothing is fair, you have to pick yourself back up and find a way. We felt pretty good coming in here tonight and we just didn't get it done. We have to come back next wee and get better. The key is practice."
Quarterback Haden Hillis had a game-high 48 yards on 6 attempts averages 2.6 yards per carry. Strong rushed for 36 yards on 11 runs while Caleb Hoggard had 19 yards on 7 carries.
Peyton Driskill came in as quarterback after Hillis left the game with a shoulder injury. He completed 4 for a net gain of 14 yards.
Dexter only gained 153 yards total on offense. Dexter spent most of their time on defense.
"If we don't start getting better on offense, it's going to be very tough for our defense to do that night in and night out," Pixley said of the game on Friday. "I think that we saw that last year a little bit as well. We have to find our niche. We have got to move the ball and we didn't do a very good job of moving the ball tonight."
Ste. Gen tallied up 366 yards of offense scoring three touchdowns. Darian Brown ran for a 43 yard touchdown in the 2nd quarter and another one for 44 yard touchdown in the 3rd quarter. Logan Gregg scored a touchdown at the beginning of the 4th quarter for the Dragons. Chad Donze went 3-for-3 on extra points.
The Dexter Bearcats will host Salem on Friday, August 31st at Charles Bland Stadium. The Miss DHS Coronation will be at 6:30 p.m. prior to the game.
Final Score Dexter 0, Ste. Gen 21
Dexter 0 0 0 0 - 0
Ste. Gen 0 7 7 7 - 21
Corbin Strong 11 Tackles, 5 Tackle Assists
Jett Featherston 8 Tackles, 5 Tackle Assists
Ryder Foster 3 Tackles, 1 Tackle Assists
Austin Guy 3 Tackles, 1 Tackle Assist
Dalton Warren 2 Tackles, 4 Tackle Assists
Mason Keena 2 Tackles, 3 Tackle Assists
Justin Kenley 2 Tackles, 2 Tackle Assists
First Downs Dexter 9, Ste. Gen 20
Rushing 7 (D), 17 (SG)
Passing 2 (D), 3 (SG)
Rushing Attempts 30 (D) 48 (SG)
Yards Gained Rushing 142 (D), 308 (SG)
Yards Passing 25 (D), 80 (SG)
Total Net Yards 153 (D), 366 (SG)
Rushing: Corbin Strong 11/36, Caleb Hoggard 7/19, Haden Hillis 6/48, Jett Featherston 5/34 and Ryder Foster 1/5.
Pass Receiving: Nate Gargas 3/24, Corbin Strong 1/1.
Bernie, Missouri - The 2018 Bernie Junior Varsity Volleyball Tournament will be held on Thursday, August 30th and Friday, August 31st beginning around 4 p.m. on Thursday.
Each team will play three games on Thursday and the results of pool play will determine their place on the tournmanet bracket for Friday's playoffs.
Pool A will be played in the High School gym and Pool B will be play in the Elementary gym. The finals will be played in the High School gym.
Trophies will be given for first and second places.
Spectators will be admitted through the High School gate and their hand will be stamped so they may enter either gym. Concesions will be located in the high school lobby.
Competed are Bernie, Sikeston, Bloomfield, Scott City, Poplar Bluff, Puxico, Twin Rivers, and Portageville.
Pool A will be Bernie, Puxico, Sikeston and Twin Rivers.
Pool B will be Bloomfield, Poplar Bluff, Scott City, and Portageville.
High School Gym Thursday, August 30th
4 p.m. Bernie vs Twin Rivers
5 p.m. Sikeston vs Puxico
6 p.m. Bernie vs Puxico
7 p.m. Sikeston vs Twin Rivers
8 p.m. Puxico vs Twin Rivers
9 p.m. Bernie vs Sikeston
Elementary Gym Thursday, August 30th
4 p.m. Bloomfield vs Scott City
5 p.m. Portageville vs Poplar Bluff
6 p.m. Bloomfield vs Poplar Bluff
7 p.m. Portageville vs Scott City
8 p.m. Bloomfield vs Portageville
9 p.m. Scott City vs Poplar Bluff
