Late Ste. Genevieve touchdown spoils Dexter comeback 27-21

Editor's Note: This story and photos will also be available in the next print edition of Dexter Daily Statesman on Tuesday morning Note: A photo gallery of the Dexter-Ste. Genevieve game is available at this link: Football Photos

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. - The highly anticipated Week 1 football showdown between the Ste. Genevieve Dragons and Dexter Bearcats lived up to its billing late Friday night at Dragons Field.

Dexter overcame a 19-7 second-half deficit when it scored two touchdowns in a span of 30 seconds to move ahead 21-19 with 5 minutes, 30 seconds left in the third period.

The unprecedented comeback was spoiled in the closing minutes of regulation when Ste. Genevieve quarterback Wyatt Lalumandier threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to Austin Brewer with 1:59 left in the fourth quarter to secure a 27-21 victory against Dexter.

"Ste. Genevieve was prepared," Dexter coach Justin Peden said, when asked about his thoughts of the epic season-opener. "Coach Stolzer is a great coach and he had his guys ready. They were young, but hungry and ready to go. Our guys played hard, but we made some mistakes that kind of cost us. There are always going to be some kinks you need to workout after your first game and we'll work them out. We are going to get back at it, correct the mistakes we made and be a better football team."

The Bearcats almost rallied again after Ste. Genevieve put together its game-winning drive. Ste. Genevieve recovered a squib kick after its final score, but the Dexter defense prevented the Dragons from running out the clock. Ste. Genevieve turned the ball over on downs at Dexter's own 23-yard-line with 24 seconds remaining in regulation.

In the final 10 seconds of regulation Dexter quarterback Peyton Pollock scrambled to his right while being chased by multiple defenders and connected with Jason Jarrell downfield for a 78-yard touchdown pass. The touchdown was wiped off the scoreboard, however, because Pollock crossed the line of scrimmage by a yard or two before he released the pass.

"Peyton made a good throw and it was a good catch," Peden said. "He just stepped over the line a little bit. Sometimes that's how the ball bounces, but it should have never came to that play."

Following the penalty Dexter ran one final passing play. On the final play Pollock threw a pass of about 25 yards to Ethan Stevens who avoided a couple tackles before being brought down at midfield with no time remaining.

The Dragons scored one touchdown in every quarter to account for its 27 points.

Ste. Genevieve built a 13-0 advantage after Brewer ran for a one-yard touchdown with 3:12 left in the first quarter and Logan Rhinehart ran for a 52-yard touchdown with 10:42 remaining in the first half.

Pollock cut the deficit to 13-7 when he rushed 33 yards for a touchdown with 8:17 left in the first half.

Ste. Genevieve opened the second half with eight straight rushing play. The 71-yard drive was capped off when Lalumandier rushed 39 yards for a touchdown to pad Ste. Genevieve's lead to 19-7 with 8:41 left in the third quarter.

Ste. Genevieve fumbled the ball away on its next three offensive possessions after its third-quarter touchdown.

Dexter capitalized on the turnovers with its final two scores. The first score came when Pollock threw a four-yard pass to Stevens with 6:00 left in the third quarter. Pollock later threw a 30-yard pass to Stevens with 5:30 remaining in the third quarter to give Dexter its only lead.

"We finally got clicking offensively," Peden said. "We did the stuff we can do. When that happens you see what we can produce, offensively."

The Ste. Genevieve offense fumbled the ball away five times, while Dexter fumbled the ball away only once.

"Defensively, I thought even though we didn't win the game we played very well," Peden said. "Big plays killed us. Basically, all of their scores were on big plays. They didn't really sustain a drive and just drive it down our throats and when they did we forced a fumble on the goal line and got the ball back.

"Our defense played pretty well," Peden continued. "It was just the big plays. We just need to relay assignments to guys and make sure everyone knows where they are supposed to be. That's stuff we will clean up."

Dexter had 10 penalties for 69 yards and Ste. Genevieve had six penalties for 66 yards.

"Penalties stalled our drives," Peden said. "We were moving the ball pretty well in spots. Then you go from second and one to second and 12. You cannot work with that. Penalties were definitely a killer."

Dylan Bazarian led Dexter's defense with 10 tackles. Noah Kronk added nine tackles.

Kronk, Stevens, Tim Spence, Brandon Quertermous and Cameron Craft each recovered a fumble for Dexter.

Pollock tallied a team-high 92 yards on the ground for the Bearcats. Carson Dean was second in rushing with 42 yards.

Lalumandier tallied a team-high 121 of Ste. Genevieve's 280 yards rushing. He was 7 of 15 in the air for 138 yards.

Pollock completed 16 of 27 passes for 140 yards. He threw one interception.

Stevens had a team-high seven receptions for 74 yards. Austin Chesser added five catches for 45 yards.

"Offensively, I thought we did well," Peden said. "We just need to get the rust and kinks out. We did a lot of things positive on the offensive side of the ball, but then again stalled drives killed us. We've got to turn big plays into points and I thought that's something we didn't do very well tonight.

"But this one's on me," Peden added. "Anything that happened on this one I'm going to take the blame for because our guys played hard tonight and you cannot fault the effort the kids put in."

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Ste. Genevieve 27, Dexter 21

DHS 0 7 14 0 - 21

SGS 7 6 6 8 - 27

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

SG -- Austin Brewer 1 run (Drew Schmelzle kick), 3:12 (7-0 SG)

Second Quarter

SG -- Logan Rhinehart 52 run (Schmelzle kick no good), 10:42 (13-0 SG)

DX -- Peyton Pollock 33 run (Jason Jarrell kick), 8:17 (13-7 SG)

Third Quarter

SG -- Wyatt Lalumandier 39 run (conversion no good), 8:41 (19-7 SG)

DX -- Pollock 4 pass to Stevens (Jarrell kick), 6:00 (19-14 SG)

DX -- Pollock 29 pass to Stevens (Jarrell kick), 5:30 (21-19 DX)

Fourth Quarter

SG -- Lalumandier 47 pass to Dalton Giesler (Brewer run), 1:59 (27-21 SG)

Team Stats

Stats Dexter Ste. Genevieve

First downs 13 13

Rushing-yards 35-152 39-280

Passings yards 140 138

Comp-Att-Int 16-27-1 7-15-0

Total yards 285 379

Fumbles-lost 1-1 5-5

Penalties-yards 10-69 6-66

Punts-Avg. 4-155 2-51

Possession Time 28:02 19:58

Sacks by-Yards 1-8 0-0

Individual Stats

RUSHING -- (Dexter) Peyton Pollock 19-92, Carson Dean 10-42, Dylan Bazarian 4-6, Ethan Stevens 2-12. (Ste. Genevieve) Wyatt Lalumandier 17-121, Austin Brewer 16-47, Luke Gettinger 4-60, Logan Rhinehart 2-52.

PASSING -- (Dexter) Peyton Pollock 16-27-0. (Ste. Genevieve) Wyatt Lalumandier 7-15-0.

RECEIVING -- (Dexter) Ethan Stevens 7-74, Austin Chesser 5-45, Gavin White 2-11, Tim Spence 1(-1), Jason Jarrell 1-11. (Ste. Genevieve) Logan Rhinehart 4-36, Dalton Giesler 2-52, Drew Schmelzle 1-50.

PUNTING -- (Dexter) Ethan Stevens 4-155. (Ste. Genevieve) Drew Schmelzle 2-51.