Sikeston shuts out Dexter 34-0

DEXTER, Mo. - It has been said to the point of being cliché that football games are won up front. Cliché or not, it definitely was true of Friday's game between the Sikeston Bulldogs and the Dexter Bearcats.

Sikeston used its offensive line to lead a ground attack that ran for over 300 yards, while the Bulldog defense held Dexter to negative rushing yards in a 34-0 victory at Charles Bland Stadium.

"They've got some good guys to run behind," Dexter assistant coach Brian Becker said. "They did a good job up front on both sides of the ball. We've got to do a better job of tackling. We would have them in third-down and fourth-down situations and we'd make contact with them behind the first-down marker, but it seemed like they'd push us forward and get the big first down."

Becker ran the team Friday in the absence of Justin Peden, who was not on the sidelines Friday night. However, Becker does not believe that Peden's absence affected the outcome of the game.

"You just adjust," Becker said. "We've got a resilient bunch here and you just adjust."

Sikeston (3-0) dominated from the outset, needing just 2:14 and nine plays to march the ball 68 yards to open the game, taking a 6-0 lead when Reese Porter hit Courtney Hawkins on a 10-yard scoring toss.

Porter gave the 'Dogs a 12-0 lead just 41 seconds into the second quarter when he capped a 13-play, 64-yard drive with a six-yard scoring jaunt. Sikeston followed that up with a 13-play, 75-yard drive that was finished with a nine-yard touchdown pass from Porter to Austin Brown. Chase Davis tacked on the conversion run to make the score 20-0 with 4:37 left before the half.

Such drives were typical for the Bulldogs Friday, as four of their five scoring drives took 11 or more plays. Through the first three quarters, the 'Dogs had an almost 2 to 1 edge in time of possession as they took a 34-0 lead to the final period.

"I was proud of our defense," Becker said. "We've had a bad habit against teams like Sikeston in the past of giving up the big play. We never gave up the big play all night long -- we just couldn't make a big play on defense.

"We'd get them in third-down and fourth-down situations and we just never could get the big stop that we needed. That kept their offense out on the field and our defense labored all night and they fought hard, but Sikeston just outmanned us."

Sikeston's dominance up front forced the Bearcats (0-3) to run several linemen in and out of the game Friday

"We were banged up all night long on the front line," Becker said. "A lot of that's due to the fact that Sikeston is so tough up front. They pose a problem to any school around. They just beat us up front all night long."

Carson Dean led Dexter on the ground with 35 yards on 10 carries, while Tim Spence and Jon Foels each had two catches for 30 and 25 yards, respectively.

Earnest Fobbs led the Bulldogs with 135 yards rushing on 17 carries and ran for a pair of third-quarter TDs.

The Bearcats (0-3) will be seeking their first win of the season when they host Caruthersville Friday night. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.