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Sikeston, Kennett set to face off for first time in four seasons
SIKESTON -- The last time Sikeston met Kennett on the gridiron, the Bulldogs celebrated its 600th all-time victory in program history with a 56-0 win over the Indians at Sikeston Public Schools Stadium.
Sikeston became the fifth team in Missouri to accomplish the feat, which happened Oct. 7, 2011. After a four-year hiatus, Sikeston and Kennett will renew its series on Friday night in the Bulldogs' home opener.
Kennett is now led by longtime Dexter coach Aaron Pixley, who has guided the program to a district championship game appearance in 2014. Prior to 2014, Kennett last played for a district title in 1986.
After going 2-8 in his first year, Pixley led the Indians to a 6-6 campaign in 2014 and then 8-3 last year.
Kennett has long been an on-again, off-again team on Sikeston's schedule, but with the resurgence that the Indians have made the last two years, Sikeston coach Kent Gibbs jumped at the chance to add them to the schedule.
"If we can we like to stay in Southeast Missouri and play local teams," Gibbs said. "We've played Kennett in the past. When it came time to schedule, coach Pixley and I got together and we thought about it and thought it would be a good time to do so. We were able to make some other changes to our schedule to make that happen. We're looking forward to it."
Pixley was the head coach at Dexter for 13 years and he experienced a run of success in the mid-2000s against Sikeston, winning six straight from 2002-2007, so he is familiar with the Bulldog program.
"We haven't played Sikeston around here in a long time," Pixley told the Daily Dunklin Democrat. "I played them at Dexter, so I know the coaching staff and the kind of kids they have. They are a very good Class 4 program, so we will have to play better. We've got to play sound defense and tackle. It's going to take offense, defense and special teams, and we have to get better in all phases of game."
Kennett defeated Fredericktown 57-10 last week to open the season. The Indians led 35-10 at the half and blew the game open with a big second half.
The Indians piled up 407 yards of offense, including 291 rushing yards against Fredericktown.
"They're skilled. They're very athletic on both sides of the ball. They're big up front. They're very active. That's the best way to describe it. They're very active on offense. They do a lot of motion and misdirection, a lot of things that we like to do," Gibbs said of Kennett.
The Indians are led by quarterback Patrick Maddox, a 6-foot-3 junior. He completed 6 of 12 passes for 116 yards with three touchdowns. He also rushed for 22 yards on four carries, scoring on a 19-yard run.
"The thing about their quarterback, he does a good job of executing their offense," Gibbs said. "He runs the football, he throws the ball well. They run lots of crossing routes underneath to get those athletic kids out in open space and once they get space they can make big plays."
Kennett's rushing attack was led by 5-11, 195-pound junior X'Zavier Whitfield, who tallied 143 yards on eight carries. Freshman Marsayv'Ann Harrell had three carries for 42 yards and senior Cameron West had three carries for 41 yards. West also had an 82-yard kick return for a touchdown.
Seniors Azeon Nelson and Jaylean Kinnon and sophomore Elijah Lemons could also see some carries after combining for eight carries and 49 yards last week.
West was Maddox's top target last week, catching three passes for 50 yards, including a 56-yard touchdown. Seniors Heath McHaney, Tyriek Thomas and Nelson also had receptions last week.
On defense, the Indians allowed 290 yards of offense to Fredericktown.
"Defensively they play kind of a 'bear' front," Gibbs said. "They really overload the box and they're active. They're bringing people, doing twists and things up front. It's going to be quite a challenge. They're a good football team."
Sikeston opened its season with a 52-0 win over Charleston, scoring 44 points in the first half against the Bluejays.
The Bulldogs had 341 yards of offense, most of which came in the first half while reserves finished out the rest of the night.
Phayzun Fobbs led the attack with 97 yards rushing on three carries with a touchdown. Quarterback Dre Johnson had 58 yards on seven carries while Jason Moore and Keshawn Ellis followed up with 52 and 49 yards, respectively.
Starting running back Justus Faulkner had four carries for 34 yards and a touchdown before being rested the remainder of the game.
An area of concern for Gibbs was his team's passing game. The quarterbacks Johnson and sophomore Nate Self combined to go 0-3 passing, while four other designed pass plays went for sacks or quarterback scrambles.
"I thought offensively, once we got going and got clicking, I thought we did some good things as far as handling the football and making some blocks," Gibbs said. "Later on we didn't get off the ball like we needed to. Obviously we've got to do better in the pass game."
The Bulldog defense limited Charleston to 79 yards of total offense, including minus-one rushing, although big chunks of the lost yardage were on quarterback sacks and botched snaps. The defensive highlight of the night was Don Larry's 32-yard interception return for a touchdown.
"For the most part I thought we did some good things over there the other night that are good for us in the future," Gibbs said. "I thought defensively we ran to the ball really, really well."
Kennett last defeated Sikeston in Gibbs' first year as head coach, 32-16 in 2007. Gibbs' teams turned around to defeated Kennett four straight times by a combined score of 196 to 16 before the series went on hiatus. The Bulldogs have won 10 of the last 11 meetings with Kennett. Sikeston leads the all-time series 56-8-1.
Kennett hasn't defeated Sikeston at SPS Stadium since 1985.