September 11, 2005
Fumbles prove costly as Charleston wins 120th meeting
SIKESTON - Sometimes even the most basic football plays are taken for granted. But the Sikeston Bulldogs won't be taking anything for granted anymore after narrowly missing on an upset of arch rival Charleston on Friday, losing 14-8 in the 120th meeting at Sikeston Public Schools Stadium...
SIKESTON - Sometimes even the most basic football plays are taken for granted.
But the Sikeston Bulldogs won't be taking anything for granted anymore after narrowly missing on an upset of arch rival Charleston on Friday, losing 14-8 in the 120th meeting at Sikeston Public Schools Stadium.
The Bulldogs lost two red zone fourth quarter fumbles in the waning moments, including one on a potential game-winning drive with 2:05 left in the game at the Charleston 13-yard line.
The fumble happened when Ferrell and fullback Acie Dixon couldn't connect on the handoff.
"Many times it just comes down to fundamental mistakes," said Sikeston coach Jerry Dement. "Turnovers always bite you, and they did tonight."
Just moments earlier, Sikeston lost a fumble at the 1-yard line when quarterback Chase Ferrell took the sneak but lost the ball to the Bluejays.
One official signaled Ferrell had crossed the plane for a touchdown, but he was overruled despite Dement's protests.
"Just lucky," said Charleston head coach Al Marshall. "We were just lucky. We had some go against us some, but then we had some go for us there at the end."
After the Bulldogs' second fumble, the Bluejays were able to run out the remaining 2:05 on the clock to put an end to a sloppy performance by a highly-touted team.
The Bluejays did avoid turning the ball over, but penalties and dropped passes kept the team from doing more damage.
"We should've put the game away in the first half," said Marshall. "We had it in the hand and we just self-destructed at times."
The Bluejays racked up 14 penalties for a total of 103 yards. And four times they had chances to score, but either the pass was dropped or it was under-
thrown.
"If we could've put the nails in the coffin in the first half, we could've put them under," said Marshall. "But when we kept messing up, that kept giving them hope. When you start having hope, you start playing better. I kept telling my boys it would be a dogfight. The game is won up front with the hogs, and they whipped us tonight."
For the Bulldogs, it was an improved performance from last week.
However, similar problems plagued the team, namely, an inability to move the ball consistency on offense and poor open-field tackling.
"I'm very proud of our kids effort -- they played as hard as they possibly could," said Dement. "But it still comes down to fundamental mistakes. Turnovers and poor tackling in the open field was the difference in the ballgame. Those were once again our Achilles heel. That was the story of the ballgame."
Another story was the running of Bluejay junior tailback Joseph Watts, who, like Caruthersville's Kendrickus Reed last week, had his way against the Bulldog defense.
Watts tallied 195 yards rushing on 18 carries with both of the Bluejay touchdowns.
"Joe Watts is a gamer," said Marshall. "He doesn't say much. He's quiet. You wouldn't even know he was there in practice or in school. But when you turn on the lights on Friday nights, he just goes."
Watts' ability to make people miss in the open field caught Dement's ire.
"That's the second game in a row that a good tailback has gashed us," said Dement. "We have people at the point of attack and he cuts back and we whiff. We just miss people. We've worked on it in practice and we'll continue to work on it. We've got people in the right spots, but we're not doing the fundamental things to get people down."
The Bluejays (2-0) got on the scoreboard quickly as they took their opening possession and easily marched 63 yards on seven plays capped by Watts' 3-
yard TD run. Dustin Allen provided the first of his two extra points.
But after that, Sikeston's defense was able to keep the Bluejay offense in check, holding them on downs twice and avoiding one last gasp before the half.
Sikeston (0-2) managed to put together a drive before the half as punt returner B.J. Green was hit late out of bounds, which drew a 15-yard personal foul flag to set the Bulldogs up with excellent field position at the Charleston 36.
Three plays later, Ferrell connected with senior flanker Robbie Howard for a 32-yard touchdown pass with 37 seconds left in the half. The extra point was wide, leaving the Bluejays with a 7-6 halftime lead.
On Charleston's second possession of the second half, the Bluejays were backed up to their own 7-yard line facing a third-and-20, but Watts broke free for a 51-yard run.
Three plays later, Watts scored on a 29-yard run to extend the lead to 14-6 with one second left in the third quarter.
The Bulldogs then proceeded to march 67 yards on 10 plays before coughing up the ball on the 1-yard line on the quarterback sneak.
After holding the Bluejays to a three-and-out, a bad snap on the punt forced Bluejay punter Allen to throw the ball out of the back of the end zone for a safety, cutting the lead to 14-8.
"That was actually a planned play and it saved the game because they would've blocked the kick and would've got a score right then," said Marshall. "We actually worked on that in practice because we know Sikeston always runs the block punt."
On the ensuing kickoff, Howard returned it 46 yards to the Charleston 28-
yard line with 5:08 left to play and appearing to be in great shape for an upset victory.
The Bulldogs offense continued to surge, but the fumble at the 13-yard line ended any chances for the home team.
The Bluejays finished with 399 yards, exactly matching the total the Bulldogs allowed last week to Caruthersville.
Bobby Clark carried the ball five times for 54 yards rushing. Fullback James Williams had 44 yards on six carries, including a 33-yard tote which helped seal the game in the fourth quarter.
Quarterback Josh Marshall carried 10 times for 34 yards. He was 3-of-7 passing for 52 yards.
Sikeston had 174 yards of offense led by Dixon's 72 yards on 15 carries. "He's a hard runner -- he runs hard up the middle," said Marshall. "He's tough to bring down. If they hadn't had the fumble, they probably would've drove down and beat us right there. It was ugly, but a win is a win is a win. That's all that matters."
The Bulldogs only had 108 yards rushing on 33 attempts.
Ferrell was efficient through the air as he completed 7-of-12 passes for 66 yards.
Howard had four catches for 53 yards.
Sikeston will travel to Dexter next Friday for its first road game. Charleston will host Caruthersville in a battle of area Class 2 powers.
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