Bearcats roll over Pirates

Jerry Jarrell photo Dexter's Hunter Bruce comes up with an interception on a pass intended for Perryville's Lee Thaxton during the Bearcats' 41-0 Class 3, District 1 win at home Friday night. [Click to enlarge]

Daily Statesman Sports Editor

Dexter scored in every quarter and the defense had its best showing of the season as the Bearcats defeated Perryville, 41-0, at Charles Bland Stadium Friday night.

Jerry Jarrell photo Dexter's Ryan Windham stretches for extra yards after a reception during the Bearcats' 41-0 win over Perryville at Charles Bland Stadium Friday night. [Click to enlarge]

The win puts Dexter in position to lock up second place in District 1 and move on in the Class 3 playoffs if the Bearcats can defeat the Kennett Indians on road Thursday night.

"Any time you win its important, but especially now, the last three games of the season, and especially after you lose your first one," Dexter coach Aaron Pixley said after the game.

Ben Mills got off to a quick start against the Pirates and finished 11-of-20 in the passing department for 242 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those TD strikes went to Gary Summers (5 catches for 128 yards) for scoring plays of 22 and 38 yards, while the third scoring pass went to a wide open Austin Featherston late in the second quarter that covered 52 yards and pushed the Bearcats out front at the half, 27-0.

Wesley McCollough only got 14 carries on the night for 48 yards, but two of those were for touchdown runs of three and five yards. Aaron Mace's 1-yard touchdown run put the final points of the game on the board in the fourth quarter with the mercy clock running.

"I tell you what, they prepared a lot better this week, they had better practices, and it showed," Pixley said of his team's efforts on senior night. "I thought we executed a lot of nice plays on offense. We were sporadic in there - we didn't play excellent all the time on offense - but they played well.

"The defense was lights out tonight," he continued. "They were swarming to the ball, they were physical up front, and I felt like we won that battle, and that's what you've got to do. Perryville is well coached. They are big strong kids and they are going to get physical on you and we're just happy our kids came to play and were prepared."

While Dexter was rolling up 369 yards of total offense, the Bearcats' defense was limiting the Pirates to just 62 total yards for the game, 59 on the ground and just three through the air. Garett Flengte and Kirk Handler were a combined 1-for-8 in the passing department and each threw one interception.

Dexter won the early field position battle with defense and two good punt returns by Jake Cox that set up the Bearcats' first two scoring drives.

A 46-yard pass from Mills to Summers to the Pirates 3-yard line set up Dexter's first score. McCollough pushed it across from the three at the 5:24 mark of the first quarter.

Another good defensive stand and punt return by Cox set up a 22-yard strike from Mills to Summers that capped a 4-play, 32-yard drive with 1:24 remaining on the first quarter clock.

Austin Featherston returned a interception of a Hadler pass to the Pirates' 29 to set up the Bearcats' next score. A McCollough run lost three yards before Mills found Summers for a 38-yard scoring strike.

Another interception, this time by Hunter Bruce on a throw from Flengte, gave the Bearcats the ball at the Perryville 36. Dexter wasted no time as Mills connected with Featherston, who was wide open down the sideline for a catch and run that covered 52 yards and sent the 'Cats into half-time leading 27-0.

McCollough's 5-yard scoring run in the third capped a 7-play, 50-yard scoring drive and pushed Dexter lead to 34-0, and the mercy clock began to run in the fourth quarter after Mace punched it in from one yard out with 8:24 remaining in the game. Several of the Dexter starters were on the sideline for the fourth quarter.

Dexter will now turn its attention to Kennett, where the Bearcats (4-5) can avoid a losing season and secure a spot in the next round of the playoffs.

"We play next Thursday," Pixley noted. "If you want to go to the playoffs, you've got to win it. We don't prepare to loss, I guarantee you. So we're going to go out and try and win the game. We've got to give our best effort. They (Kennett) do a lot of things on offense and defense that are going to give us fits and we've got to make sure we understand it and we prepare for it, so we have to have a good week of practice."

New Madrid County Central (6-3) moved to 2-0 in district play Friday with a 45-18 win over Kennett (3-6), which slipped to 0-2, while Dexter and Perryville (1-8) each stand at 1-1 in district play. Perryville will host New Madrid County Central Thursday while Dexter travels to Kennett for the regular-season finale.