Dexter, Portageville trying to put pieces together

DEXTER-- The savory smell of barbecue was in the air Friday night at Charles Bland Stadium in Dexter, but it was football that was on everyone's mind. The Dexter Bearcats, Portageville Bulldogs, Kennett Indians and Scott City Rams came to participate in the Dexter Jamboree.

Jamborees are a controlled scrimmage in a round robin format. Two scrimmages go on simultaneously in which each team runs 12 offensive plays against the other and then they rotate.

The Jamboree was held after only two weeks of official practice for the teams. A change in MSHSAA rules pushed the start date of practice back one week, which gave teams less time to prepare.

Dexter's Jered Stephens (12) and Bryn Hester (15) attempt to tackle Portageville's Dometric Treadwell Friday night at the Dexter Jamboree. David Jenkins, Staff

Dexter's Jered Stephens (12) and Bryn Hester (15) attempt to tackle Portageville's Dometric Treadwell Friday night at the Dexter Jamboree. David Jenkins, Staff

The Dexter Bearcats showed signs of putting the pieces together in the scrimmage. "I was looking to play hard and be physical," said Dexter coach Aaron Pixley. "We did that at times."

Pixley's defense was quick and hard hitting, despite being undersized. "This is the smallest defensive unit I've had in my time here, so they have to really fly around the field and swarm the ball" Pixley said. "We gave up one big play to Scott City, but not much more than that, and we held Portageville to negative yards or right there at it. Defensively we did a pretty good job."

Dexter showed glimpses of a balance offensive attack as well, but Pixley remains unconvinced. "Offensively, I wasn't as impressed," he said. "We're missing way too many blocks. We're not as physical on offense as we need to be. We need to make sure that we get our body and hands on the right guy."

The passing game of junior quarterback Ben Mills and his receiving corps looked to be working in fine order. "We threw the ball well," Pixley said. "We didn't do anything to fancy. We've got a good quarterback and we have receivers who can catch the ball."

After losing their top three receivers to graduation last year, receiving was a big question for the Bearcats coming into the season. But the new group seems up to the challenge. "I have the biggest bunch of receivers that can catch the ball that I've ever had since I've been here. The problem(with receiving) we've had early on in the season is running better routes and getting open, things like that," Pixley said.

Senior tailback Nick Hessling was out of action Friday with a slight ankle sprain but Pixley expressed confidence in Hessling's quick return. "Nick Hessling will be our starting tailback and will be in there next Friday, hopefully," Pixley said. Hessling's backup, senior Seth McBride, and sophomore fullback Josh Sifford, showed that they can carry the load not matter what happens.

Pixley pointed to the change in rules that cut a week of practice before the jamboree as a real challenge. "We're one week earlier. We've only had two weeks of practice and have to come out here and play in a game situation, I would say missing that extra week is real big right now for being in shape and our execution," Pixley said.

Pixley and the Bearcats will kick off the official season on Aug. 29 at Ste. Genevieve.

The Portageville Bulldogs came into the Jamboree looking to get a better look at how they were progressing. " We come over here to get an indication of where we are at," said Bulldog head coach Lee Wallace.

The Bulldogs had a major shake up of personnel this week. "We had a lot of things shake up this week," Wallace said. "We lost a guy to discipline issues and we lost some to injuries. So we've had a lot of shuffling in the last 24 to 48 hours, that, on top of having a bunch of new people was a bad combination."

Friday's scrimmage did show Wallace and the Bulldogs what they need to work on. Wallace noted that assignments and conditioning were the two aspects that stuck out the most. "Conditioning. I felt like everybody we played tonight was in better shape than us, so that'sº a knock in the head," Wallace said who felt that some of the problems with assignments were due to the reshuffling of positions. "We've got to get people familiar with their spot and keep them there where they can learn it," Wallace said.

Wallace feels his team is motivated and ready to get work. "What I saw that I liked is the kids kept after it," he said. " We got a lot of work to do, so we'll go back to work and try to get them ready for next week."

The Portageville Bulldogs start the season at home on Aug.29 against Mt.View-Liberty.