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Sikeston's season comes to an end on stormy Halloween night
SIKESTON -- All season long the Sikeston Bulldogs have depended on its defense to bail them out.
Thursday night the defense gave the team plenty of chances, but the offense could not capitalize on its opportunities in a 21-13 loss to North County in a Class 4, District 1 first round game at Sikeston Public Schools Stadium.
Fifth-seeded North County (7-3) advances to play top-seeded Hillsboro on Wednesday in a district semifinal game.
The fourth-seeded Bulldogs finish the season 6-4.
Early on it appeared that the Raiders would run away with the game as they scored 14 points in the first quarter, but Sikeston discovered ways to slow down the North County offense as the game wore on, giving themselves plenty of chances to make a comeback.
"They came out and put it on us early and it was kind of to the point where you're thinking, 'if they score again this could really get ugly,'" Sikeston coach Kent Gibbs said. "But we tightened up defensively, came back in the second half and really battled."
The Bulldogs twice scored touchdowns in the second half to make it a one-possession game.
Sikeston's defense came up with defensive stops three times in the fourth quarter, but the Bulldogs never seriously threatened to score the rest of the way.
Sikeston's last chance ended on downs at the 50 with 2:07 left in the game.
"There at the end we just didn't make enough plays," Gibbs said.
The Raiders were able to run off the remaining time on the clock to seal the victory.
"I'm not surprised at all that Sikeston came roaring back," North County coach Jeromy McDowell said. "They're a prideful football program."
The Raiders opened the contest with a successful drive inside the red zone only to have the game delayed by inclement weather that was due to hit the area just minutes after the game had kicked off.
The action was postponed for more than an hour.
When play resumed, North County faced a 2nd-and-goal from the 18 with 8:20 left in the first quarter.
The Raiders needed just two plays as standout quarterback Wyatt Compton scored from the 6 to take a 6-0 lead.
Two possessions later, Sikeston had a golden opportunity when they recovered a fumble at the Raider 33, but the Bulldog drive ended on downs.
North County responded on the ensuing drive, marching 68 yards and scoring on Compton's 1-yard run to take a 14-0 lead.
By the time the first quarter had ended, Compton had already rushed for 103 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns.
"He's the focal point of the offense and really the kids feed off of him," McDowell said.
Following a Sikeston fumble, North County was on the move again and threatening in the red zone, but the Bulldogs' Donnell Cobb intercepted a Compton pass in the end zone and returned it 24 yards to keep Sikeston in the game.
Two possessions later, Sikeston recovered another Raider fumble at the North County 15 on a botched reverse, but once again they could not generate any offense and lost the ball on downs.
North County put together a drive just before the half but Sikeston's defense held the Raiders on downs at the Bulldog 32.
Sikeston pitched the shutout in the second quarter, forced two turnovers, and began slowing down Compton.
"The coaches got together at the (delay) and we tried to do some different things and talked about some things extensively about what we wanted to do," Gibbs said of Compton. "That helps, but we also made better pursuit angles. We flowed well on the perimeter. I just think we played a little bit better to be quite honest about it."
In the second half, Sikeston continued to hold strong defensively, eventually forcing a punt and then blocking it to set themselves up at the Raider 27.
The Bulldogs got on the board on sophomore Earnest Fobbs' 6-yard run to cut the lead to 14-7.
The Raiders responded with its only points of the second half, marching 54 yards and scoring on Seth Nickles' 13-yard run to extend the lead to 21-7.
Sikeston put together its best drive of the night on the following possession, going 65 yards in 13 plays capped by Fobbs' 1-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter. A bad snap on the extra point kept the score at 21-13.
The Bulldogs got the defensive stops they needed throughout the fourth but the offense went three-and-out, four-and-out and five-and-out the rest of the way.
Compton finished with 175 yards rushing on 25 carries. The Raiders finished with 293 yards rushing as a team and 325 total yards.
The Bulldogs finished with 171 total yards.
Senior running back Chris Word went down with an injury on the Bulldogs' opening series after just three carries.
"Chris hasn't been well all year long and that ankle flared up on him again and he had a dinger with his hip as well," Gibbs said. "It's just one of those things. He got hurt. I hate it for him. It's his last game and he couldn't play."
The sophomore Fobbs filled in and finished with 85 yards on 19 carries and two scores.
Sophomore Nathan Hampton got his first career start at quarterback in place of senior Reese Porter, who was moved to tight end. Hampton completed 6 of 13 passes for five yards.
"We talked about it and I talked with Reese, we just felt like it was a good time to do that," Gibbs said. "Nathan had matured through the year and been playing scout team. I thought Nathan for his first time out did well and I thought Reese performed well at tight end for us."
Sikeston also got word this week that junior Austin McMillan, arguably the team's top offensive lineman, would miss the game after suffering a hand injury that required surgery.
It was a familiar theme for the Bulldogs this year, who were without four starting offensive linemen on Thursday that were penciled in as starters prior to the season.
It made for a lot of new faces and young players forced into the lineup much earlier than anticipated.
"We did lose a lot of kids from last year and we had a lot of first year players playing this year, as far as never playing varsity," Gibbs said. "It was kind of baptism by fire. We had a lot of young kids that stepped in there and played. I'm not trying to make any excuses, but we had a lot of injuries. Things that you just don't normally have. But on the flip side of that we had some tough kids that hung in there. Austin Brown getting his nose broke and not missing any time with that basically until he had to get it re-broke to get it fixed."
Gibbs reflected on the season in which he saw his team start off 5-0 despite a myriad of injuries through the stretch, only to watch the injuries continue to pile up and finally leave its footprint on the season as the team lost four of its last five, albeit, against the strongest teams on the Bulldogs' schedule.
"Nobody's happy with losing four out of five and nobody's happy with being 6-4, but at the same time, outside of one-and-a-half ballgames we felt like that we were in the games and we competed well and we played hard," Gibbs said. "Now we have to evaluate and check our message and see if it's getting across. We do that every year, whether we're 13-1 or 6-4. We sit down and evaluate things and evaluate kids and figure out what we need to do to get better. The biggest thing right now is we have to really concentrate hard on the weight room this winter and get ourselves in a stronger position and maybe avoid some of these injuries, maybe be able to play in some of those tough games all the way to the end and finish ballgames. If we do that and the kids come back out and play, then we'll be OK."
The Bulldogs will graduate 16 seniors on the roster, including 12 that saw extensive playing time.
Word finished his four-year career with 2,174 yards rushing, placing him ninth on the all-time rushing list at Sikeston.
Word and the rest of the senior class was a part of two playoff teams and finished with a combined record of 36-12 in four years.
"This senior class is a little unique in the fact that there was a lot of those kids that didn't play much this year and some of them didn't play a whole lot up until this year," Gibbs said. "What that tells me is it's a bunch of kids that worked hard, they kept plugging and stayed in there and it didn't always go their way, but they stuck around and kept working. These kids as freshmen didn't win a ballgame. They came in and battled and made themselves a pretty good football team.
"It's always hard to say goodbye to seniors because they mean so much to your program. I don't recall a senior class that you're not sorry to see go. Whether it's winning ballgames or not winning ballgames, it's more about the experience that you have with those kids. And I had a good experience with the kids. I hope they got something out of the football program that they can take with them and use later on. Not only in the athletic field, but in the classroom and in their personal life and as they get out and get grown up and start doing the things that they do to be good, productive people in society."
| North County | 14 | 0 | 7 | 0 | -- | 21 |
| Sikeston | 0 | 0 | 7 | 6 | -- | 13 |
First Quarter
N -- Wyatt Compton 6 run (Dylan Kater kick), 7:30
N -- Compton 1 run (Kater kick), 1:53
Third Quarter
S -- Earnest Fobbs 6 run (Nathan Hampton kick), 6:05
N -- Seth Nickles 13 run (Kater kick), 4:10
Fourth Quarter
S -- Fobbs 1 run (run failed), 11:55
TEAM STATISTICS
| N | S | |
| First downs | 16 | 9 |
| Total yards | 325 | 171 |
| Rushes-yards | 62-293 | 41-166 |
| Passing yards | 32 | 5 |
| Comp.-Att.-Int. | 3-10-1 | 6-13-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 4-2 | 2-1 |
| Penalties-yards | 7-40 | 7-55 |
| Turnovers | 3 | 1 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing -- North County, Wyatt Compton 25-175, Seth Nickles 19-67, Tyler Curtis 12-44, Isaiah Smith 3-20, Team 3-(-13). Sikeston, Earnest Fobbs 19-85, Chase Davis 6-32, Ray Council 5-27, Victwon Riley 5-16, Chris Word 3-11, Team 1-(-2), Nathan Hampton 2-(-3).
Passing -- North County, Wyatt Compton 3-10-1 32. Sikeston, Nathan Hampton 6-13-0 5.
Receiving -- North County, Isaiah Smith 2-31, Tyler Cassidy 1-1. Sikeston, Ray Council 1-6, Austin Lott 2-4, Garrick Madison 1-1, Earnest Fobbs 2-(-7).