Bearcats feast on Rams

SCOTT CITY , Mo. -- Dexter's varsity offense scored on every possession and the Bearcats' defense was less than five minutes away from a shutout in a 54-6 win over Scott City on the road Friday night.

Dexter scored on seven first half possessions to take a 47-0 lead into the half, then tacked on seven more points on it's opening possession of the third quarter before turning the offense over to the second-team.

Meanwhile, Dexter's defense was limiting the Rams to just 19 yards rushing and 140 total for the game, with 77 of those coming in the last few minutes of the game against the Bearcats' second unit.

Scott City's Travis Phillips enter the night averaging over 100-yard per game, but was limited to just 21 on 11 carries by Bearcat defenders.

Dexter churned out 295 rushing yards and 422 total yards for the game.

"We executed very well on offense," Dexter coach Aaron Pixley said after the game. "We did most everything we wanted to do. We executed well in both the passing game and running game on offense.

"The defense shut down the running game and that was big for us," Pixley continued. "You've got a team here (Scott City) that has rushed for a lot of yards coming in and we've been giving up a lot of rush yards lately. Our defense played excellent.

"They got some passing yards on us there late, but offensively it was a very well executed game and I'm very happy we came out of the locker room ready because we definitely needed to be ready for this game and bounce back."

Dexter quarterback Cody Stevens (7-of-12 for 127 yards and 3 TDs) connected with Tyler Miller (5 catches, 107 yards) for the game's first two touchdowns. The first was a 22-yard completion while the second came on 5-yard slant pass in which Miller out-fought the defender for possession.

Nick Summers (9 carries for 117) broke free for a 47-yard scoring run to make it a 20-0 game after Alex Cliff, who finished the night 6-of-8 on point after kicks, missed the PAT.

Joshua Overall (9 carries for 79), was next when he scored the first of his four touchdowns from 17-yards out. He would later add scoring runs of 9, 7 and 10-yards.

In between, senior Jake Lee went high in the air to pulled down a 8-yard scoring strike from Stevens that made it a 33-0 game in the second quarter.

"We came out at half-time and had a good defensive stop," Pixley said of his team's ability to not let down after building the big lead. "The offense took the ball right down the field, four or five plays, and scored and we started subbing out.

"Starters in games like this don't like coming out," he continued. "But at the same time, I'm very glad my young kids got to play. It's the first time this year they've had the opportunity to play in a varsity football game and that's all due to my varsity starters executing and playing very well."

Scott City came into the contest riding a two-game winning streak, but the Rams were hindered by early mistakes, including a couple of dropped passes. An early third quarter interception of a Jonathan McFall added to the Rams' problems on this night.

"I think we laid down, we didn't play very well, but we're going to get better," Rams coach Jim May commented. "Dexter is a good team. That's first and foremost. They're a really good football team. They came out and took it to us and we let them do it. We're going to continue to get better because we're going to turn this around."

Dexter improves to 3-1 with the win, while Scott City slips to 2-2.

The Bearcats will try and prepare for Malden at home this Friday if they can work around a week of Stoddard County Fair and pre-game Miss DHS pageantry. Malden defeated Dexter last year, 26-20 in overtime.

"It's a week where we've got the fair," Pixley pointed out. "It's a very distracting week. And we've got to really be disciplined all week long and not get distracted.

"And we've got to make sure we focus on what we're supposed to do and come out ready to play because they are a very good football team," he added. "We're going to have to be ready that night for sure or we are going to get in a rough spot. We've got make sure we have a good week of practice."

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Dexter 54, Scott City 6

Score By Quarter

First Quarter

DEXTER (10:01) Cody Stevens 22-yard TD pass top Tyler Miller (Alex Cliff kick good).

DEXTER (4:17) Cody Stevens 5-yard TD pass to Tyler Miller (Alex Cliff kick good).

DEXTER (1:29) Nick Summers 47-yard run for touchdown. (Alex Cliff kick no good).

Second Quarter

DEXTER (10:36) Joshua Overall 17-yard touchdown run. (Alex Cliff kick no good).

DEXTER (8:19) Cody Stevens 8-yard TD pass to Jake Lee (Kick by Alex Cliff good).

DEXTER ((4:31) Joshua Overall 7-yard touchdown run. (Alex Cliff kick good).

Third Quarter

DEXTER (6:28) Joshua Overall 10-yard touchdown run. (Alex Cliff kick good).

Fourth Quarter

Scott City (4:19 Jonathan McFall 1-yard touchdown run. (Jonathan Mcdfall kick no good).

Individual Statistics

RUSHING -- Dexter: Nick Summers 9-117-1; Joshua Overall 9-79-4; Cody Stevens 6-64; Jonathan Foels 5-19; Alex Cliff 2-3; J.T. Putnam 1-1; Scott City: Travis Phillips 11-21; Jonathan McFall 3- (-3); Gordy Bradley 2-0; Jacob Underwood 1-5.

PASSING -- Dexter: Cody Stevens 7-12-127-3. Scott City: Jonathan McFall 14-28-0.

RECEIVING -- Dexter Tyler Miller 5-107-2; Joshua Overall 1-12; Jacob Lee 1-8-1. Scott City: Zach Cotner 8-75; Austin Atchley 4-34; Cody Ashcraft 1-10, Logan Farmer 1-2.