Sikeston wins thriller

JACKSON - It's been a while since the Sikeston Bulldogs football team has claimed a Week 1 victory.

But with a thrilling 21-14 win at Jackson on Friday night, the Bulldogs ended three straight years of season-opening losses to the Indians.

"Anytime you can beat a team like Jackson it's a huge win because they have an outstanding program," said Sikeston head coach Charlie Vickery. "They're always going to be a well-schooled team. Just getting off to a start like this is huge."

Sikeston's 21 points eclipsed the 10 points the Bulldogs scored against Jackson the last three years combined.

Also, the win ended a tough stretch against the Indians, who had won five of the last six meetings with the Bulldogs.

"It was like the old Jackson-Sikeston games," said Jackson head coach Carl Gross. "It was back and forth. Momentum changed shirts about four different times during the ballgame. They ended up making plays when they had to and we didn't. We just got beat by a better football team tonight. We were out-coached and out-played. That's just the bottom line."

Trailing 21-14 with less than a minute left, Jackson had a chance to tie the game or even take the lead with a two-point conversion.

The Indians got as close as the Bulldog 1-yard line on third down, but a procedure penalty backed the team up to the six. The Sikeston defense held firm, forcing two incomplete passes to take the ball over on downs. The Bulldogs went on to run out the remaining 47 seconds on the clock.

"They really had good field position on that last drive and they were moving the ball," said Vickery. "We were fortunate enough to keep them out of there."

The Sikeston defense, which shutout Jackson's offense for the first half, was able to force and recover three Indian fumbles on the night.

"That's very uncharacteristic," said Gross. "I don't know if we took Sikeston lightly. I can't imagine that we would. (But Sikeston) did a super job. Their kids played hard all night. Really, they just wore us down and out in the fourth quarter."

But Jackson appeared to be the fresher team for most of the second half.

The Indians battled back from a 14-0 deficit and tied the game on Tyler Boyd's 26-yard TD reception from Tyler Profilet with 11:30 left in the game.

On Sikeston's ensuing drive, the Bulldogs had third-and-long from their own 37.

Quarterback Blake DeWitt rolled out of the pocket and appeared to have nowhere to go, but at the last second he found tight end Stephen Miller for an 18-yard reception.

The clutch play set up a 51-yard TD run by DeWitt down the right sideline on an option keeper. It proved to be the game-winning score, making it 21-14.

With many talented receivers and two experienced quarterbacks, many thought the Bulldogs would take to the air much more against the Indians.

The Bulldogs only attempted 12 passes, but it was DeWitt's legs that did the most damage.

The junior toted the ball 19 times for a career-high 151 yards in the game. He also had a 13-yard TD run in the third quarter and he completed five passes for 74 yards.

"They've got a very, very gifted young man at quarterback," said Gross. "And if you can keep the football in his hands, you're probably going to have good things happen for you. We ended up playing to take away the pass and Coach Vickery saw that. He's been around long enough. He knew that he didn't have to throw anymore. He knew that his quarterback was going to make plays, control the ball, keep our offense on the sideline and basically wear our defense down. It was just a super job of play-calling by him."

But probably the biggest stat of the game was 3-to-0. The former being Jackson's turnovers and the latter, Sikeston's turnovers.

"No turnovers, period, is probably the biggest thing," said Vickery. "The last few years we've turned the ball over and given them great field position. This year we didn't have the turnovers."

Although Sikeston didn't turn the ball over, the Indians controlled the field position game early with superior special teams.

Twice in the first quarter Jackson had drives start in Bulldog territory. But both times they were held out by the Sikeston defense.

"I think we kind of set the tone early," said Vickery. "We had our backs against the wall in the first quarter and they had great field position and our defense did a great job of holding them out."

After a scoreless first quarter, a Jackson first drive of the second quarter ended on a fumble at the Bulldog 40. Sikeston put together an 8-play, 60-yard drive capped by an 18-yard TD run by senior tailback Lavar Morgan, who broke numerous tackles before reaching the end zone.

The Bulldogs missed a golden opportunity to take a two-touchdown lead at the end of the half when they drove inside the Indian 5-yard line.

But, with time running out, DeWitt had to attempt a 31-yard field goal, which was wide right.

In the second half, after holding Jackson on a three-and-out, Sikeston drove 69 yards for a score capped by DeWitt's 13-yard option keeper.

Jackson responded on the following drive when Jason Meystedt scored on a 3-yard TD run.

Meystedt was filling in for starter Stuart McIntosh, who was diagnosed with a broken clavicle after being hit earlier in the third quarter.

Meystedt, in just two quarters of action, finished with 135 yards on 18 carries. McIntosh had 86 yards on 17 carries.

"I think we got a bit worn down a little bit later, but both teams were playing physical out there," said Vickery.

Morgan had 70 yards on 20 carries for the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs' biggest question mark, the offensive line, showed signs of life according to Vickery.

"At times with the young line, we made some good surges and got after them and at times they whipped us," he said. "We had some bright spots but we've just got to be consistent. We've got some things to build on."

Sikeston will play at Charleston next Friday night at 7:30. Jackson will play at Rockwood Summit on Friday 7:30 p.m.