Sikeston snaps two-game losing streak with 14-13 win over Farmington

sports@standard-democrat.com

FARMINGTON -- It's difficult to call a game at the mid-point of the season a "must-win" game.

But Friday night's matchup at Farmington, at least in the eyes of Sikeston head coach Kent Gibbs, was truly a game the Bulldogs had to win.

On the heels of back to back losses, and with injuries piling up on a youthful team short on depth anyway, and playing on a field that Sikeston had only won one time in its previous four trips, Gibbs' Bulldogs found a way to get it done, defeating Farmington in a 14-13 thriller.

"I think our confidence was shaken a little bit last week," Gibbs said. "But I think the thing that you saw tonight, our kids just kept plugging. They didn't really worry about anything. They just kept plugging away and we stayed in there and hung in there. Tonight we kind of shook all those bad things off and we came out of it and did just enough to win the ballgame."

The Bulldogs (3-2) overcame four first half turnovers and came up with numerous defensive stops, including a turnover on downs at the Sikeston 46 with 1:24 left in the game.

Sikeston took over possession and was able to run out the remainder of the clock, including a 42-yard run by Victwon Riley which allowed the team to go to the victory formation to seal it.

It was the capper to a career night by Riley, who finished with 220 yards rushing on 31 carries with two touchdowns. Backfield mate Earnest Fobbs also had a big game, rushing for 104 yards on 15 carries.

"When both of those guys get opportunities we feel like they should perform that way," Gibbs said. "With the injuries we've got, we quit sharing time with those two and we had to have them out on the field at the same time. And I might add that they both turned around and played defense. You've just got to have that grit and that fight in you. And we certainly had that up front with our offensive and defensive line. When you put it all together good things happen."

It was a night that many good things happened for the Bulldogs, but sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

Early in the fourth quarter, with the Bulldogs clinging to a 14-10 lead, Farmington's Brayden Bohn somehow emerged from a pile of Bulldog defenders, spun out of the mob, and sprinted 64 yards to the end zone for the apparent go-ahead touchdown.

But the Knights (2-3) were whistled for a personal foul behind the play before Bohn had crossed the goal line. The penalty wiped out the touchdown and the ball was placed at the 20-yard line.

It was determined that a Farmington player blindsided a Sikeston player well behind the play. Gibbs said by rule the correct call was made.

Farmington coach Erik Kruppe was clearly disappointed the call was made, argued his case to the referee, but to no avail.

"That was 15 yards behind the play so the ruling on that was a defenseless player and it had no bearing on the result of the play," Kruppe said.

The Knights had to settle for a 30-yard field goal to cut the Bulldogs' lead to 14-13 with 8:54 left in the game.

It was one of many times the Sikeston defense was put in a difficult position only to come up with a crucial stop.

Farmington's only touchdown came on a fumble return in the second quarter and the Knights also kicked a 30-yard field goal in the first quarter after recovering a Bulldog fumble in Sikeston territory.

"Our defense just kept coming back and coming back and coming back and not worrying about what just happened offensively," Gibbs said. "Our defense did more than they should because we kept putting them in a hole."

The first hole came in the first quarter when Sikeston fumbled to set the Knights up at the 42. The Bulldog defense was able to hold Farmington to a 30-yard field goal to give the home team a 3-0 lead with 4:32 left in the first.

Sikeston responded on the ensuing drive, marching 80 yards on 10 plays with Riley scoring from the 3 to get the Bulldogs on the board. Fobbs caught the two-point conversion pass from Nathan Hampton to extend the lead to 8-3 with 1:29 left in the first.

After Sikeston's defense forced a punt, Riley fumbled on the very next play to send the defense right back out on the field.

Once again the Bulldog defense held firm, holding the Knights on downs.

Then on Sikeston's third play of the ensuing drive, Riley was stripped by Ethan Barron who returned it 52 yards to the end zone to give the Knights a 10-8 lead with 9:35 left.

But Riley would get his payback.

On the Bulldogs' next drive, Riley capped a 7-play, 80-yard drive with a 31-yard touchdown run up the middle to give Sikeston a 14-10 lead with 7:10 left in the half.

"Victwon Riley had a tough first half with the fumbles and he just forgot about it," Gibbs said. "The kids pumped him up on the side and we pumped him up on the side, and he came back and played well."

Later in second quarter, Sikeston's defense had to dig in once again as Farmington intercepted a pass at the Bulldog 40-yard line. The drive ended with a missed 22-yard field goal with 2:29 left in the half.

The Bulldogs put together a drive in the waning seconds of the half and had a couple shots at the end zone but they fell incomplete.

Trailing 14-10 to start the third quarter, Farmington's Brayden Krause returned the second half kickoff into Bulldog territory to give his team good field position.

The Knights reached as deep as the one-yard line, but the Bulldog defense stiffened and was able to hold them on downs.

"That brings back visions of the Ladue game several years ago when we had a goal line stand right before the half," Gibbs said. "What we've got to get better at is getting first downs. I think we got one first down after the goal line stand and had to punt it away. I know it's a lot of the same kids going both ways, but we've got to bow our neck a little more on offense so we can give our defense a little bit of rest."

The Bulldogs punted following the defensive stop, but it was just a 16-yarder that set the Knights up at the 34.

Sikeston held them to a three-and-out, forcing a 48-yard field goal attempt by Krause that barely missed wide left.

Both teams would end up trading punts the remainder of the quarter which led to the exciting fourth quarter finish.

The Bulldogs had a chance to ice the game, but they were stopped short on 4th-and-1 at the Farmington 35 with 2:36 left.

The Knights took possession and converted a 4th and 10 on a 19-yard scramble by quarterback Brandt Busenbark, but the Bulldogs were able to hold them on downs after that. On 4th and 13, the Bulldogs tackled Bohn after a reception well short of the first down marker at the Sikeston 46.

"The biggest thing I thought about was the field goal opportunity," Gibbs said. "I felt like that if we continued to play that we would do a good job of keeping them out of the end zone. But the big thing at that time was just don't let anything get behind you and keep them back as far as we can so that they can't kick a field goal."

The Bulldogs finished with a season high 406 yards of offense, including 352 on the ground. They held Farmington to 226 yards of offense and held Busenbark to 88 passing yards, completing 11 of 29 (38 percent).

"The big key for us on both sides of the ball, our offensive and defensive line played really, really well," Gibbs said. "And I think you have to take your hat off to our secondary. Javeon Bonner stepped in there tonight and played well for us. Our secondary played well. We just made the plays that we needed to make."

Riley's 220 rushing yards is the highest total by a Sikeston player since Kyland Gross ran for 236 yards against Jennings in 2012.

"We knew that in the trenches they were a little more physically stout," Kruppe said. "Coach Gibbs has been doing this for a long time. He's a very good football coach. You know that they're going to come and they're going to be well-prepared. Coach (Andy) McGill, the defensive coordinator, I know is a very good football coach as well. Sikeston always plays salty defense. We knew we were going to have to have to win a low scoring game. We didn't think this was going to be a 42-35 shootout. We knew it was going to be a low scoring game that we had to win."

Sikeston has now won five of the last six games with Farmington.

The Bulldogs will next host Poplar Bluff on Friday at 7 p.m.

"It's got to be a little bit of a confidence builder for our guys to where they think, 'hey we can do this. We can pull these kind of games out if we just keep plugging away,'" Gibbs said. "It's got to help us for the rest of the season. It doesn't mean we'll win one more, five more, or no more. It just means that it's got to help our mentality. It's got to help how we feel about each other. How we feel about the team. How we come into practice on Monday. And certainly that's what we will be hoping we get out of it."

Sikeston 8 6 0 0 -- 14

Farmington 3 7 0 3 -- 13

First Quarter

F -- Brayden Krause 30 FG, 4:32

S -- Victwon Riley 3 run (Earnest Fobbs pass from Nathan Hampton), 1:29

Second Quarter

F -- Ethan Barron 52 fumble return (Krause kick), 9:35

S -- Riley 31 run (run failed), 7:10

Fourth Quarter

F -- Krause 30 FG, 8:54

TEAM STATISTICS

S F

First downs 17 12

Total yards 406 226

Rushes-yards 60-352 28-138

Passing yards 54 88

Comp.-Att.-Int. 4-12-1 11-29-0

Fumbles-lost 3-3 0-0

Penalties-yards 5-39 765

Turnovers 3 0

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing -- Sikeston, Victwon Riley 31-220, Earnest Fobbs 15-104, Jason Moore 3-13, Justus Faulkner 4-13, Nathan Hampton 4-8, Team 3-(-6). Farmington, Brayden Bohn 16-68, Brandt Busenbark 19-58, Brayden Krause 1-6, Ken Pham 1-5, Gavin Duncan 1-1.

Passing -- Sikeston, Nathan Hampton 4-12-1 54. Farmington, Brandt Busenbark 11-29-0 88.

Receiving -- Sikeston, Donnell Cobb 2-28, Earnest Fobbs 1-21, Justus Faulkner 1-5. Farmington, Trevor Keith 4-45, Tyler Finch 5-26, Brayden Krause 1-9, Brayden Bohn 1-8.