September 12, 2015
Sikeston forces seven turnovers in 62-14 win over Dexter
Sikeston senior running back Victwon Riley scored four touchdowns and senior quarterback Nathan Hampton threw for a season-high 121 yards and two touchdowns.
By Derek James - Standard Democrat
sports@standard-democrat.com
DEXTER -- The tone was set on the first play of the game.
Sikeston's Justus Faulkner ripped the football out of the hands of Dexter's kick returner and two plays later the Bulldogs scored a touchdown.
That was the theme of the night in Sikeston's 62-14 rout of the Bearcats at Charles Bland Stadium on Friday.
The Bulldogs forced seven turnovers, including five interceptions, to avenge last year's heart-breaking loss in the final minute to Dexter.
Sikeston senior running back Victwon Riley scored four touchdowns and senior quarterback Nathan Hampton threw for a season-high 121 yards and two touchdowns.
But this night belonged to Sikeston's opportunistic defense, which not only kept Dexter's offense off balance for most of the night, but also helped set up Sikeston's offense with favorable field position after those turnovers.
The Bulldogs (4-0) scored touchdowns following six of the turnovers, including one directly on a fumble return late in the game. In all, Sikeston totaled 41 points off the turnovers.
"Turnovers were a big issue," Dexter coach Justin Peden said. "Sometimes you have games like that. Stuff gets a little out of whack and you start having a bunch of turnovers and it really cost us in some situations where we were driving and we'd turn it over and then they'd score. Things would kind of compound on us. It was a tough night."
It all started with Sikeston's pressure on Dexter quarterback Ethan Stevens. The senior speedster proved plenty elusive with his legs, rushing for 125 yards, but he was pressured into dangerous throws into traffic and the Bulldogs made him pay, picking off four of his passes.
Senior defensive back Logan Hampton had two interceptions.
"I think our D-line did a good job up front of making him uncomfortable in the pocket and making him scramble and making him throw up bad balls and then our secondary and linebackers did a good job of going up and getting them and bringing them down," Logan Hampton said.
Following Faulkner's tackle and strip, Riley scored on a 13-yard run. Faulkner added the two-point conversion run on the "swinging gate" to give the Bulldogs an 8-0 lead just 47 seconds into the game.
Two possessions later, facing 4th and 7, Nathan Hampton connected with senior wideout Jaylen Mallory, hitting him in stride for a 45-yard touchdown strike to lead 15-0.
On the ensuing possession, John Paul Rowland intercepted Stevens' screen pass and returned it 15 yards to the Dexter 3.
Riley scored on the next play to lead 22-0 with 3:39 left in the first quarter.
"We talked about getting a great start and we did," Sikeston coach Kent Gibbs said.
Dexter (1-3) got on the board following a Sikeston fumble at the Bearcat 18. Stevens scored on a quarterback run on the next play, diving into the end zone for the touchdown to cut the lead to 22-7 with 2:27 left in the half.
It triggered the beginning of a chaotic finish to the first half.
Dexter successfully recovered the onside kick and appeared poised to put itself in a position to make it a one possession game heading into the half, but Stevens threw an interception on the next play.
On the play, Keshawn Ellis recorded the interception, but needed an assist from Riley who juggled the ball just long enough and kept it alive before Ellis dove in and saved it from hitting the ground.
Sikeston's offense responded with a six-play, 66-yard drive capped by Riley's 2-yard plunge to lead 29-7 with 52 seconds left.
On the very next play from scrimmage for Dexter, Jason Jarrell attempted a halfback pass but was intercepted by Logan Hampton at the 41.
On the next play, Nathan Hampton laid a perfect pass into the hands of Deterio Newman who got behind the defense for a 41-yard touchdown to lead 36-7 with 32 seconds left.
Then on the next play for Dexter, Stevens took the snap and showed his speed as he got around the end, made a couple open field moves to get past the secondary and raced to the end zone for a 73-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 36-14 with 12 seconds left.
On the ensuing kickoff, Sikeston's Phayzun Fobbs sprung loose up the middle and ran 60 yards before being caught at the Dexter 26 with one second left. With one play left, Hampton's pass was barely out of the reach of Mallory in the end zone to bring an end to the wild final two minutes of the half.
The second half began slowly as Sikeston lost a fumble and then both teams turned it over on downs. Logan Hampton intercepted his second pass and returned it 33 yards to the Dexter 11. That set up Nathan Hampton's 2-yard TD run to increase the lead to 43-14.
Riley scored on a 7-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter to lead 49-14.
Then, following a Phayzun Fobbs interception, Faulkner burst through the heart of the defense up the middle and ran untouched for a 53-yard touchdown to lead 56-14.
The Bulldogs score its final touchdown when Damon Alexander scooped up a fumble and returned it 62 yards with 4:36 left in the game.
"You get those kind of turnovers you're going to have a better chance to win, obviously," Gibbs said. "And that's really how the score became what it was. It was a a lot closer game than that. I think it was 36-14 and they were doing some good things to us and we were having some issues so the turnovers no doubt helped."
Stevens showed his game-breaking speed, but Sikeston's defense harassed him into several poor throws -- he completed 5 of his 18 passes for 81 yards.
"Tonight wasn't his best night passing, but he's a good quarterback," Peden said. "I have all the faith in him that he's going to be able to take this game and use it to get better and keep putting up big numbers. You saw on that run he made a big play and that's what he can do. He's a big play athlete."
After Stevens' 125 rushing yards, Dexter's running backs combined for just 13 yards on 19 carries.
"When you get in that kind of hole we try to fight back," Peden said. "We'd put some good drives together and then we'd turn the ball over or have a turnover on downs, so that really did us in. Hats off to Sikeston, they're a good football team. They did what they did well. They ran the ball well and they capitalized on turnovers."
Sikeston out-gained the Bearcats 348 to 219. The Bulldogs had 227 yards rushing led by Riley's 86 yards on 18 carries.
Despite the lopsided final score, Gibbs was concerned with some haphazard moments, which included two lost fumbles as well as numerous missed tackles and poor pursuit angles on Stevens.
"We got a little sloppy, that's a fair statement," Gibbs said. "I don't know if we relaxed when we got the lead or thought they would lay down when we got ahead. We'll just have to look at the film and see what we can work on."
The Bulldogs will now get into the meat of the conference schedule as they host Farmington on Friday at Sikeston Public Schools Stadium. Sikeston will follow that up with road trips to Poplar Bluff and Jackson.
"I hope it's a big stepping stone, it just depends on how well we do in practice and do what we need to do," Gibbs said. "I think any team in our conference can win our conference. I truly believe that. We'll have to fight and scratch and claw every game to have a chance to win. Hopefully we've learned from last week and hopefully we've learned from this week and we can take that and build on it and play good football down the road."
Sikeston 22 14 6 20 -- 62
Dexter 0 14 0 0 -- 14
First quarter
S -- Victwon Riley 13 run (Justus Faulkner run), 11:13
S -- Jaylen Mallory 45 pass from Nathan Hampton (Hampton kick), 5:09
S -- Riley 3 run (Hampton kick), 3:39
Second quarter
D -- Ethan Stevens 18 run (Jason Jarrell kick), 2:27
S -- Riley 2 run (Hampton kick), 0:52
S -- Deterio Newman 41 pass from Hampton (Hampton kick), 0:32
D -- Stevens 73 run (Jarrell kick), 0:12
Third quarter
S -- Hampton 2 run (kick blocked), 4:32
Fourth quarter
S -- Riley 7 run (Hampton kick), 11:55
S -- Faulkner 53 run (Hampton kick), 9:00
S -- Damon Alexander 62 fumble return (kick failed), 4:36
TEAM STATISTICS
S D
First downs 11 7
Total yards 348 219
Rushes-yards 46-227 35-138
Passing yards 121 81
Comp.-Att.-Int. 6-12-0 5-19-5
Fumbles-lost 3-2 4-2
Penalties-yards 3-25 5-35
Turnovers 2 7
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing -- Sikeston, Victwon Riley 18-86, Justus Faulkner 1-53, Nathan Hampton 11-36, Earnest Fobbs 6-34, Jason Moore 4-12, Phayzun Fobbs 2-8, Keyshawn Ellis 2-7, Marcus Williams 1-2, Deonundre Johnson 1-(-11). Dexter, Ethan Stevens 16-125, Carson Dean 9-8, Jason Jarrell 5-7, Jake Adams 1-0, Payton Tinnin 1-0, Team 1-(-2).
Passing -- Sikeston, Nathan Hampton 6-12-0 121. Dexter, Ethan Stevens 5-18-4 81, Jason Jarrell 0-1-1 0.
Receiving -- Sikeston, Jaylen Mallory 1-45, Deterio Newman 1-41, Earnest Fobbs 2-24, Justus Faulkner 1-6, Bryce Bays 1-5. Dexter, Austin Chesser 3-45, Carson Dean 1-22, Jason Jarrell 1-14.
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