Annual scrimmage deemed a success

SIKESTON - The Annual Sikeston Bulldog Red and Black scrimmage took place on Friday night at Public Schools Stadium amid threatening weather.

The scrimmage was called short with just a few plays left due to lightening.

But overall the event was deemed a success.

"Everything was pretty smooth," said Sikeston head coach Charlie Vickery.

The Red defeated the White 14-0, but players swapped jerseys throughout the game as varsity and junior varsity players were intermixed.

The Red team scored on its opening drive using a mixture of shotgun formations and I-formations.

"We're just going to run what's going to work," said Vickery. "That doesn't mean we're going to run it. We're just going to mix things up a little bit."

Stephen Miller, who is in his first year at quarterback, adeptly moved the offense down the field, using short screen passes and halfback draws.

He finished the game 8-of-10 passing for 114 yards. His longest completion was a 30-yarder to Scotty Keenan, who wrestled a sure interception away from Bryce Wibbenmeyer.

Keenan had three catches for 44 yards.

Miller scored the first touchdown on a 10-yard keeper after the inside fake to the halfback.

Ryan Dicus kicked the extra point.

Wibbenmeyer was the second quarterback to see action. He completed 4-of-7 passes for 57 yards with an interception, which Keenan returned 52 yards before being tackled out of bounds.

Wibbenmeyer's longest completion was for 30 yards to Jacob Priday off a screen play. Priday broke a number of tackles and hurdled another defender before being tackled.

Colt Pruitt was the third quarterback. He only attempted one pass which was incomplete. But the sophomore did score the game's final touchdown. The handoff was fumbled, which Pruitt picked up and returned 37 yards for a touchdown.

"I think the quarterbacks are going to just improve every week as we go," said Vickery. "We don't have a lot of experience back there, but we just need to keep improving. If we can do that then we're going to be fine."

Sophomore Acie Dixon led all running backs with 36 yards rushing on six carries. He had the longest run of the day -- an 18-yarder.

Sophomore Travis Hudson had the second longest run -- a 15-yarder. He also caught an 11-yard screen pass in which he was stopped for a loss, but wheeled back to the wide side of the field for a positive gain.

Nathan Eaves rushed for 20 yards on four carries. He also caught three passes for 36 yards.

Fullback Priday was second in rushing with 21 yards on three carries.

Junior Brandon Williams caught two passes for 34 yards. Felante Larry had an 11-yard reception.

"The most important thing is to get a look at the film and see how everybody did because we're looking for players for positions," said Vickery. "We're not just looking at the total result of the play, we're looking at each individual and their effort. The best thing about it is we've got two weeks left to work on it. We can make a good judgment and a good evaluation and work on it the next two weeks."

The Bulldogs will participate in a jamboree scrimmage this Friday night at New Madrid County Central.