Tigers flip Sikeston, 33-20

CAPE GIRARDEAU - The Sikeston Bulldogs' disappointing season came to an end on Thursday night with a 33-20 loss to Cape Central at Houck Stadium in Class 4, District 1 action.

The Bulldogs lost fumbles on their first two offensive plays leading to two Cape Central touchdowns right off the bat.

Before Sikeston knew it, the Tigers were ahead 13-0 just five minutes into the game.

Cape Central (3-7) eventually led 19-0 in the first quarter.

Although Sikeston out-scored the Tigers 20-14 in the final three quarters, the 19-point spot was too much to overcome.

Sikeston's Joey Williams reaches for a catch.

Sikeston's Joey Williams reaches for a catch.

"We started off about as bad as you could start off," said Sikeston coach Jerry Dement. "Two fumbles kind of set the tone for the night. We were playing catch-up from the get-go. Those were just base plays and you've got to hang on to the football. The first quarter was disastrous for us."

Cape Central scored first on a 10-play drive from 31 yards out.

Hykeem Hammonds, who had a monster night with 234 yards rushing on 17 carries and three TDs, scored on a 4th-and-1 play at the goal line.

Following the second fumble, the Tigers went 40 yards on five plays. Ty Craft caught a 22-yard swing pass from Blake Slattery to push the lead to 13-0.

Then, following a Sikeston punt, Hammonds busted off a 61-yard touchdown run to make it 19-0.

But despite the poor start, Sikeston gutted it up for the rest of the game.

Both teams played to a scoreless second quarter with a last-minute drive by the Tigers getting snuffed out in the end zone by a Joey Williams interception to keep the Cape Central lead at 19-0.

At halftime, Dement said his team still felt they had a chance to get back in the game.

"We needed three scores to win," said Dement. "We were down 19 points and we scored 20. But we gave up those last two touchdowns. We've struggled all year tackling in the open field and losing the edge defensively. They knew that was our weakness and that's where they attacked us. Hammonds ran the ball well. They out-played us and they deserved to win."

After stopping the Tigers on downs in the third quarter on a fake punt, the Bulldogs marched 63 yards on 12 plays capped by a 2-yard touchdown run by Acie Dixon to cut the lead to 19-6.

The Tigers responded with a quick drive, scoring on a 19-yard end around by Craft to put the lead at 26-6.

Sikeston (1-9) came right back with a six-play, 60-yard drive with Williams making a diving 35-yard TD reception from quarterback Chase Ferrell to cut the lead to 26-12 with 11:17 left in the game.

Once again the Tigers answered, this time with an 80-yard run by Hammonds as he broke several tackles and out-ran the Bulldog secondary to the end zone on their first play of the series.

"Hammonds has been a great surprise, not only to the fans, but to the coaching staff -- we didn't know he had that in him until this year," said Cape Central coach Lawrence Brookins.

A Cape Central fumble set up Sikeston's final touchdown with 2:40 left in the game. Ferrell took the quarterback sneak from three yards out and then hit Robbie Howard for the two-point conversion pass to reach the final margin.

"I thought our kids gave great effort for three quarters," said Dement. "We just dug too deep a hole to start the ballgame. I'm pleased that they rallied back and tried to make a game of it. You can't spot points like that and expect to win."

Cape Central finished with 423 yards of offense with 346 coming on the ground.

The win by the Tigers avenged a 37-8 season-ending loss to the Bulldogs last year.

"The entire group has got to make a bigger commitment to getting in the weight room in the offseason," said Brookins. "For some reason the last couple years our numbers in that weight room has waned, and there's no reason for that. Everybody we play is bigger than us, so we've got to make up for it by getting stronger."

The Bulldogs finished with a season-high 285 yards of offense and a season-

high 194 yards rushing.

Dixon led the Bulldogs with 67 yards rushing on 10 carries.

"I was real concerned about their fullback Dixon," said Brookins. "But the guys we had up front did a good job of not letting that kid get off too much."

Jerod Scott had 66 yards on 13 carries.

Ferrell completed 9-of-16 passes for 91 yards. Howard caught seven passes for 49 yards to lead the way.

"We've got to stress to our kids between now and next year that we've got to be a more physical team and a more mature team," said Dement. "I think we will be because we've got a lot of young kids contributing this year."

The Bulldogs finished the season with a school-record nine losses and finished 0-3 in the conference for the fifth time since 1997.

"It's been a tough year," said Dement. "It's been a real tough year. Tough on everybody, the coaches, players, parents and fans. What we've got to learn from this is our kids have got to understand the preparation it takes to be successful. We learned a tough lesson this year that if you don't prepare like you should, then it makes for a long row to hoe. Asking them is not good enough. We're going to have to demand it out of them."

Sikeston will lose 13 seniors to graduation.