Dexter football team drops first round playoff game to Potosi

POTOSI, Mo. - The sixth-seeded Dexter Bearcats gave the third-seeded Potosi Trojans a first-quarter scare on its home turf in the opening round of the Class 3, District 1, playoffs Halloween Night.

Potosi jumped out to an early 6-0 lead with 10:41 left in the first quarter when Austin Cooley ran the ball 80 yards for a touchdown.

The Bearcats responded twice before the first period ended to erase the deficit.

Dexter quarterback Peyton Pollock tied things up 18 seconds later when he connected with wide receiver D.J. Dowdy for a 63-yard touchdown pass.

The Bearcats then moved ahead 13-6 at the 5:07 mark of the first quarter when Potosi fumbled an Ethan Stevens punt at its own 20 and Dylan Bazarian recovered the lose ball and raced toward the end zone for a touchdown

"It was fast and furious," Dexter coach Justin Peden said of his team's electric start. "They had the long run and we answered quickly with the long pass. The guys were ready to go and hyped up. We were pushing and the first quarter was excellent. I thought we stopped them pretty well except for that one big play. The defense was swarming to the ball and the offense was moving."

Potosi moved back ahead 14-13 at the 9:52 mark of the second quarter when Blaine Riddle had a six yard-touchdown run and also ran the ball up the middle for a two-point conversion.

Riddle continued to experience success on the ground the rest of the way rushing for two more touchdown in the third quarter to help propel Potosi past Dexter 33-13.

"We knew with the conditions the way they were they would probably start running the ball quite a bit and they pretty much did," Peden said. "If the conditions would have been dryer they probably would have tried to throw a little bit more because they've got a big tall receiver that can catch pretty well and their quarterback has a good little arm. I thought we might see more play action, but we knew the run was coming. They lined up in that double tight and just kept running at us. Our guys were slipping and sliding and couldn't get their traction and that's how it goes sometimes."

A 30-yard touchdown pass by Potosi quarterback Aaron Vinson to Cooley with 2:21 left in the first half marked the only time the Trojans tallied a score in the air.

The Trojans added rushing touchdowns on its first two offensive possessions of the second half.

Neither team scored in the fourth quarter.

"The second half we needed to come out with a sense of urgency," Peden said. "They came out and hit us first. I think it kind of got to our guys a little bit and they wore us down. They are a big, physical football team. Hats off to Potosi. They won the battle up front and it doomed us in the second half."

Riddle finished with 27 carried for a team-high 196 yards.

Pollock was 12 of 29 in the air for 224 yards. Dowdy had a team-high five receptions for 106 yards.

Dexter had 66 tackles and Potosi calculated 42.

Dexter finishes its season with a record of 2-8, but two of its final four losses were by a field goal or less.

"It's disappointing you don't get the W's, but I think we did a lot of things as the season progressed," Peden said. "We got better and better. The guys believe in the system a little bit more and are believing a little bit more every week. A lot of young guys got quality reps this year and I think the building blocks are there for a really successful run the next couple of years."

Dexter graduates 12 players.

"The seniors are a great bunch of kids," Peden said. "I could sit here and talk forever about each one of them, but they were a really fun bunch of guys to get to know. They worked hard and were at weights all summer. They were at every conditioning day during the summer. It was hard to learn a completely new offensive system in one year and be super successful so you've got to commend those kids.

"D.J. Dowdy who was a quarterback that moved to receiver this year in my opinion had an all-conference year at receiver with 700 yards receiving," Peden added. "That's pretty impressive."

DUSTIN WARD - dward@dailystatesman.com Dexter's offense listens for an offensive play call.

---

Scoring Summary

Potosi 33, Dexter 13

DHS 13 0 0 0 - 13

PHS 6 14 13 0 - 33

First Quarter

P - Austin Cooley 80 run (John Malugen kick failed), 10:41

D - D.J. Dowdy 63 pass from Peyton Pollock (Makayla Waldner kick failed), 10:23

D - Fumble recovered by Dylan Bazarian (Waldner kick), 5:07

Second Quarter

P - Blain Riddle 6 run (Riddle run), 9:52

P - Austin Cooley 30 pass from Aaron Vinson (Cooley pass incomplete), 2:21

Third Quarter

P - Riddle 7 run (Lane Mercille kick failed), 9:09

P - Riddle 10 run (Mercille kick), 1:39

Team Stats D P

First downs 13 17

Rushes-yards 30-77 43-353

Passing yards 224 55

Passes 12-29-3 4-11-1

Punts 4-151 3-68

Fumbles-lost 2-2 1-1

Penalties-yards 7-60 10-77

Possession Time 24:01 23:59

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING - Dexter: Peyton Pollock 19-41, Dylan Bazarian 7-37, Carson Dean 3-3, Tim Spence 1-(-4); Potosi: Blaine Riddle 27-196, Dusty Douglas 4-64, Collin Robinson 4-14, Aaron Vinson 4-(-8), Austin Cooley 2-80, Jake Neff 2-7.

PASSING - Dexter: Peyton Pollock 12-29-3 = 224; Potosi: Aaron Vinson 4-11-1 = 55.

RECEIVING - Dexter: D.J. Dowdy 5-106, Ethan Stevens 2-37, Austin Aldridge 2-41, Tim Spence 2-25, Dylan Bazarian 1-15; Potosi: Austin Cooley 3-41, Chandler Franklin 1-14.

PUNTING - Dexter: Ethan Stevens 4-151; Potosi: Lane Mercille 3-68.

---

OTHER FIRST ROUND SCORES

Class 1, District 1:

No. 4 Portageville 28, No. 5 St. Vincent 0

No. 3 Thayer 43, No. 6 Crystal City 0

Class 2, District 1:

No. 1 Caruthersville 61, No. 8 Grandview 6

No. 4 St. Pius X 48, No. 5 Jefferson 0

No. 2 Malden 58, No. 7 East Prairie 14

No. 6 Scott City 20, No. 3 Charleston 14

Class 3, District 1:

No. 1 Park Hills Central 49, No. 8 Lift for Life Academy 0

No. 4 Fredericktown 32, No. 5 NMCC 26

No. 2 Ste. Genevieve 55, No. 7 Kennett 30

Class 4, District 1:

No. 1 Hillsboro 43, No. 8 DeSoto with Kingston 7

No. 5 North County 21, No. 4 Sikeston 13

No. 2 Cape Central 63, No. 7 Farmington 28

No. 3 Festus 55, No. 6 Perryville 12