Dexter travels to Gosnell looking for first win

Things don't get any easier for Dexter this Friday as the football Bearcats travel to Gosnell, Ark., looking for their first win.

Gosnell's ground-and-pound double winged-T offense is a defensive coordinators nightmare and the Pirates make it doublely tough with the right mixture players to make it click.

Last season the Pirates put up 40 first-half points on the Bearcats at Charles Bland Stadium in a 40-20 win, and they have a good nucleus of players back from that team. Dexter gave up 30 points last week in a 30-25 season-opening loss to Ste. Genevieve, so the Bearcats' best chance against the Pirates might be to outscore them.

"They are very difficult to prepare for," Dexter head football caoch Aaron Pixley said after Wednesday's practice. "They have been running that offense there for years and years. The kids grow up around that offense and they can run it in their sleep. That's how good they are at it."

It is the first game of the season for the Pirates, so the Dexter coaching staff hasn't been able to review film, but that is of little concern .

"We've watched film on them before," Pixley said. "The film we watched on them last year was from three years back and it was the same thing. It's not like they're tricking us. We're their first game, so there is no film.

"If they come out in something different, shoot, we almost wish they would come out in something different," Pixley said with a laugh. "But at the same time, they are going to do what they do."

What the Pirates do is move the ball up with field with a punishing, time-consuming, misdirection ground attack that lures the defense in to try and stop it. As soon as you over comit to defending the ground game, they spring the pass on you.

"They have eight to nine starters back on offense that put 40 points on us by half time last year," Pixley pointed out. "We helped them do it, but at the same time they are going to be a good football team. They run there offense well. They have a quarterback that can run and throw it. They have a good receiver who can go down the field and make plays for them.

"It's (Gosnell's offense) very difficult to stop, especially up front, because they are foot-to-foot. They normally have big strong kids up front, heavy kids that really just wall you off and they have very good backs that can get up in there and find the creases and go. It's just one of those game where we know they are going to get some yards on us, so we can't get demoralized because they get a few first downs because they are going to try and run the clock, keep the ball on the ground and just when you are playing the run to much, they are going to hit you with the pass because they are very good at throwing the ball now.

"Defensively they always seem to pressure you and play well," he continued. "They swarm to the football well. They're just well coached. They do what they do. They play hard. They have a lot of pride in their program, so we're going to have to play hard to win it. It's going to be a difficult challenge for us. But it is what it is and we are going to go out there and play as hard as we can."

After a closer look at the game film from last week's loss to Ste. Genevieve, Pixley said he was pleased with his team's effort, although there were some things he would have done different.

"We played real solid in the first half against Ste. Gen," Pixley noted. "We actually execute pretty well, better in the one back set than the two back. "We threw the ball well in the first half. In the third quarter, I threw the ball to much. We should have run the ball more. We got ourselves put in positions that we didn't execute well enough and we gave them a short field to work with and they capitalized on it.

"We still had our opportunities," he added. " Inside the Red Zone, I got a little pass happy. We were in there I don't know how many times , and came up with zero points. We had opportunities to win that game. It wasn't like they just all-out beat us. I feel like we out played them for three quarters, but it just didn't show up on the scoreboard.

"We've got to learn from it and move on. The next game, it seems like around here, is always tougher than the last one."

"We had some great effort against Ste. Gen, but if you notice, we had some key people missing in the second half because of cramps," a problem that has plagued the Bearcats in opening games the past few seasons. "We're really working hard with our kids about hydration. Believe it our not, we've been talking to our kids about hydration for about a month. Sometimes, kids have to fall on their face to figure it out. I think they were drinking water, but they need to put a little salt in it to prevent cramps. We need to make sure no one is drinking sodas, that's bad for you. Anytime you get a hot humid game like that, we're going to sweat like crazy and there is a chance of dehydration. But at the same time, the guys that stepped in there played hard and made some plays, so you go with who you've got."

Kickoff is set for 7 p. m. at Gosnell.

NOTES: Dexter escaped the Ste. Genevieve game without any major injuries so the Bearcats should be at full strength for Friday's game against the Pirates....junior Aaron Mace is also eligible to play this week.