Dexter holds on to 35-34 win over Kennett

sports@standard-democrat.com

DEXTER -- With their 15th consecutive win against Kennett on the line late Friday night, the Dexter Bearcats looked like a team on the ropes.

A two-score lead midway through the fourth quarter disappeared quickly when the Indians scored 22-unanswered points under two minutes to take their first lead of night.

With a game-defining drive and game-sealing interception in the final five minutes, however, the Bearcats pulled out a 35-34 homecoming win to keep their streak alive.

"Coming out 21-6 we felt like we missed opportunities to put it on them," Dexter quarterback Peyton Pollock said. "But we came out on top in the end."

As Pollock mentioned, Dexter built a 21-6 advantage entering the fourth quarter with the Bearcats extending their lead to 16 points, 28-12, with 8:34 to play.

A Bearcat fumble and a few big plays by Indian quarterback Edward Wilson soon helped Kennett seize the momentum and reel off three-straight touchdowns.

Wilson connected with Johnie Brooks for a 35-yard score before breaking off a 35-yard touchdown run on their next drive to tie the game, 28-28.

A three-and-out on Dexter's next drive gave the Indians the ball back. Two plays into their next drive Wilson broke off a 70-yard run to put his team ahead 34-28 with 6:23 to play.

With Wilson's second straight score, Kennett made it 22-straight points in the span of one minute, 43 seconds.

"(Wilson) at quarterback gives them a different dimension," Dexter head coach Justin Peden said. "He was able to run the ball and get outside on us. We made some mistakes defensively, guys getting sucked up. We corrected it and went to a cover four.

"They have some good athletes. You have to tip your hat to (Wilson). He's a good little player."

Facing their first deficit of the night the Bearcats went to work on what became the game defining drive.

Carson Dean started it off with a 70-yard return up the left side to set Dexter up at kennet's 22-yard line.

Three plays and a Kennet personal foul later and the Bearcats set up shop five yards from the end zone. Facing a third-and-two, Pollock broke out of the pocket to his left and looked ready to run before avoiding tacklers and rolling back to the right side of the field.

After buying himself plenty of time scrambling he found Ethan Stevens in the end zone to tie the game with 4:16 remaining. Jason Jarrell kicked the ensuing extra point, his fifth of the night, to put his team on top 35-34.

"I missed an option the first time that was wide open," Pollock said of the game-winning score. "I scrambled around a little bit and found Ethan. He got open, it was a great play by him, a great catch."

Added Peden, "Peyton did a really good job avoiding the pressure and scrambling around. The thing is are linemen didn't give up on the play. Once he started moving they kept trying to block and give him a chance.

"The guys know when Peyton gets to scrambling, keep looking for someone to block and see if he can make something happen. I thought he was going to take off running with it, but he pulled up and hit Ethan. That was big."

It wasn't long after making the game-winning catch that Stevens capped his night with a game-saving pick.

Kennett started their final drive on their own 31-yard line and moved to their 47 just over two minutes to play. Facing a fourth and seven, Wilson sent a deep pass down midfield to Anthony Hawkins, covered by Austin Aldridge.

The pair went up and Hawkins got his hands on the ball, but tipped it back into the arms of Stevens, who was playing behind the receiver. Stevens brought the interception back into Indian territory and Dexter ran out the clock for the win.

"It's a great feeling," Stevens said. "It was a pretty slow night for me actually. I didn't get much at the beginning, but ended up in the big plays at the end. I was running behind and saw him throw it so I started heading that way.

"I saw both of them crashing down, then both their hands went up so I just got behind it and the tip came up so I got it."

While the Bearcats certainly didn't win the turnover battle, losing four fumbles to Kennett, special teams proved to be a deciding factor. Jarrell connecting on all five extra-points was a deciding factor when the Indians failed to convert on three point-afters.

"On special teams we had opportunities," Kennett head coach Aaron Pixley said. "We didn't do a good enough job on our extra points. The first two extra points didn't go and the third time we tried to kick it it didn't go. It's just one of those things when you combine special team errors and penalties against a team that can score pretty quick. You get games like this where you have an opportunity at the end, but you come up short."

Dexter out-gained Kennett 365-330 and lost the turnover battle 4-0. Kennett did most of its damage on the ground, rushing for 254 yards while the Bearcats threw for 246.

Pollock finished 16 of 26 through the air for 246 yards and two touchdowns. He connected with Stevens six times for 61 yards and Austin Aldridge four times for 96 yards.

Dylan Bazarian led the ground attack, rushing 10 times for 95 yards and three touchdowns.

For Kennett, Wilson ran for 272 yards on 33 carries and three scores. He was 10 of 17 through the air for 76 yards and two touchdowns. In all Wilson accounted for 317 yards and five touchdowns.

"We kind of chunked him in there at quarterback and he's still learning how to play that position," Pixley said of Wilson. "He's a really a running back right now who has a very good arm. He has a long way to go and he'll get better and better. It's kind of a shaky spot because we had Akeem (Nelson) and he got hurt.

"To me Akeem is one of the better quarterbacks around. When he gets hurt and he have to throw our sophomore Heath (McHaney) in there to the wolves. He did the best he could, but from an athletic standpoint, an explosive standpoint, we felt like Eddie was a better option going forward and that's nothing against anyone else."

Kennett 6 0 0 28 - 34

Dexter 7 7 7 14 - 35

First Quarter

D -- Peyton Pollock 24 pass to Austin Chesser (Jason Jarrell kick good), 8:20

K -- Edward Wilson 5 run (Sion Pixley run bad), 6:18

Second Quarter

D -- Dylan Bazarian 21 run (Jason Jarrell kick good), 5:58

Third Quarter

D -- Dylan Bazarian 8 run (Jason Jarrell kick good), 1:34

Fourth Quarter

K -- Edward Wilson 17 pass to Fred Gooden (Sion Pixley run bad), 8:48

D -- Dylan Bazarian 40 run (Jason Jarrell kick good), 8:34

K -- Edward Wilson 35 pass to Johnie Brooks (Johnie Brooks run good), 8:06

K -- Edward Wilson 35 run (Edward Wilson run good), 7:43

K -- Edward Wilson 70 run (Nathan Spence kick missed), 6:23

D -- Peyton Pollock 5 pass to Ethan Stevens (Jason Jarrell kick good), 4:16

TEAM STATISTICS

K D

Total yards 330 365

Rushes-yards 47-254 30-119

Passing yards 76 246

Comp.-Att.-Int. 10-17-1 16-26-0

Penalties-yards 10-102 10-100

First downs 20 21

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing -- Kennett, Edward Wilson 33-241, Jahaida Childress 7-20, Anthony Hawkins 4-(-7), Mc Hudson 2-(-2), Fred Gooden 1-2; Dexter, Dylan Bazarian 10-94, Carson Dean 9-20, Peyton Pollock 9-1, Ethan Stevens 1-3, Tim Spence 1-1.

Passing -- Kennett, Edward Wilson 10-17-1 76; Dexter, Peyton Pollock 16-26-0 246.

Receiving -- Anthony Hawkins 4-4, Michael Richmonds 2-13, Fred Gooden 1-17, Johnie Brroks 1-35, Sion Pixley 1-5, Mc Hudson 1-2; Dexter, Ethan Stevens 6-61, Austin Aldridge 4-96, Austin Chesser 3-58, Jason Jarrell 1-18, Dylan Bazarian 1-7, Gavin White 1-6.