New Dexter coach searching for "huge" win against Bulldogs

sports@standard-democrat.com

DEXTER -- For 13 years, Aaron Pixley roamed the sidelines as Dexter's head football coach.

For the first time since 1999, Sikeston will see a different man in charge of the Bearcats when they play at Dexter tomorrow night at 7 p.m.

Now leading the Bearcats is 34-year-old Justin Peden, a native of Bolivar, Ohio, who previously spent seven years at Hayti, including the last two as head coach.

Peden, who went 11-9 in his two years as head coach at Hayti, led the Indians to a SEMO South Division Conference title in 2011 as he was named the league's coach of the year.

He has big shoes to fill at Dexter.

Pixley is the all-time winningest coach with the Bearcats, going 78-58 with four district titles, including a quarterfinal appearance in 2010.

Pixley's Bearcats had a 9-1 regular season in 2011, owing its only loss to Sikeston, 57-30.

But the team struggled to a 1-9 mark last season, the team's worst record since going 0-8-2 in 1959.

In this file photo, Dexter quarterback Peyton Pollack throws a pass against Ste. Genevieve in Week 1 at Dexter. (Brent Shipman photo)

In this file photo, Dexter quarterback Peyton Pollack throws a pass against Ste. Genevieve in Week 1 at Dexter. (Brent Shipman photo)

The team has continued its struggles in Peden's first two games, falling to Ste. Genevieve 42-7 in the season opener and losing 34-7 to Poplar Bluff last week.

With Sikeston coming to town tomorrow, Peden knows his team will be heavy underdogs against the 2-0 Bulldogs, who are ranked No. 4 in Class 4 in the MoSports.com power poll.

"Oh a win here would be huge -- just huge," Peden said. "A win against a ranked team, the first win in my tenure here as coach. It'd be huge. It'd do a lot for the kids and for everybody involved if we could get the win."

To do that, Dexter will have to find a way to put points on the scoreboard against a Bulldog defense that has not allowed an offensive touchdown and just 92 yards of offense in two games combined.

"We're looking for a mismatch anywhere we can get it," Peden said. "Holding teams less than 100 yards in two games is impressive, so we might be forced to go to the air a little bit. But it's going to be based on what they give us. Hopefully we can find those areas and try to exploit them."

The Bearcats' offense will give Sikeston a different look than what they've seen the first two weeks of the season.

"They're about 50-50 run-pass," Sikeston coach Kent Gibbs said. "The quarterback does a real good job of getting outside. They've got some receivers that can run. Basically we have to prevent them from getting big gains by their quarterback and big gains by letting receivers get behind us. We don't really know if we can knock down a pass. We haven't really seen that. We'll find out this week whether or not our secondary is up to the challenge."

The quarterback, junior Peyton Pollock, transferred from Crystal City where he had experience running the spread offense as the starting quarterback.

So far he is the leading rusher on the team with 120 yards on 34 carries and he has thrown for 164 yards, completing 14 of 34 passes with a touchdown.

"We need to try to get pressure on the quarterback, but at the same time if you get too much pressure on him and he escapes, he does a nice job of running the football," Gibbs said. "We're going to have to make sure we use proper pursuit angles and read our keys and know what we're supposed to do. We can't let him have a big night on us."

Last year's quarterback, D.J. Dowdy, is the team's top receiver, catching six passes for 108 yards with a touchdown.

The Bearcats' running game has yet to find its footing in the first couple games other than Pollock's 108 yards against Ste. Genevieve, many of which came on scrambles on roll-out passes.

Peden says his offense will have to sustain longer drives tomorrow night.

"We've got to get some drives going on offense," Peden said. "They don't have to be big play 80-yard touchdown bombs, but put some drives together and be consistent."

Sikeston's defense has been nothing short of dominant in the first two games, but there will be some challenges this week before the game even kicks off.

Injuries have taken its toll on the Bulldogs.

Starting defensive linemen Hayden Harris and Chris Word are both questionable while Peyton Boyd is out indefinitely.

However, all-region defensive lineman Damonj Wilson, who missed the first two games, is expected to make his season debut tomorrow after nursing a back injury.

Just three games into the season, Sikeston's defensive line depth is being tested.

"We've got several that are out and several that are game-time," Gibbs said. "Some of the guys that will be in there will be young guys. We'll go with the hot hand and whoever's performed will be the one that is staying in there."

Further straining the depth is whether or not Word can go.

The senior, who sprained his ankle in last week's 29-0 win over New Madrid County Central, is not only one of the top defenders on the team, but he is the only running back with much varsity experience.

His backup was Boyd, who injured his knee last week.

If Word can't go, Gibbs said a trio of players will get looks. Junior Courtney Hawkins gave the team a spark last week, rushing for 49 yards on 10 carries with a touchdown.

Sophomore receiver Earnest Fobbs, who has not had many reps at running back in the preseason, could also get a look.

Last season, Fobbs wasn't even on the depth chart, but was thrust into action against NMCC after a similar set of injuries struck down the Bulldog regulars. The freshman Fobbs had a respectable game, rushing for 53 yards on 14 carries.

But Fobbs is such a valuable defender from his linebacker position that Gibbs may use caution in overusing him at running back.

The third player that could see action is sophomore Victwon Riley, who has also missed the first two games.

"You don't know until you get people under fire, but those are our three candidates and we'll go with the hot hand," Gibbs said.

Whoever is in the game, Gibbs is hoping his offense can continue to improve and clean up areas of weakness.

"We just need to be more consistent and get a little bit better each week," Gibbs said. "We've had a couple fumbles and we haven't been very efficient in the red zone. Hopefully with this week of practice we've gotten a little bit better. We've ran some goal line periods and worked on that. I need to throw the ball a little bit more and we've worked on that some this week."

Senior quarterback Reese Porter has played well so far, rushing for a team high 275 yards on 50 carries with four touchdowns.

But the passing game has been inconsistent. Porter has completed 5 of 18 passes for 93 yards.

It's an area that Peden hopes his defense can take advantage.

"Stop the run," Peden said. "We've got to be able to stop the run. If we can stop the run then I think we'll have a chance.We're getting better against the run progressively with our scheme. We're going to have to stop them from running the ball and try to have them put the ball in the air. If we can do that then I think we're in it."

Sikeston has defeated Dexter five straight times by an average score of 49 to 13, scoring no less than 41 points in any of those five games.

The two teams have met every year since 1960 with the Bulldogs holding a 49-19 lead in the series.

"Hopefully we'll be ready for it," Peden said. "It would be great to get our first win against Sikeston."