Late drive picked, Dexter's comeback falls short against Park Hills Central

Friday, October 9, 2015
Dexter's Ethan Stevens (7) runs through a tackle by Park Hills Central's Evan Sidebottom (18) Friday at Park Hills Central High School. (Chris Pobst/Standard Democrat)

sports@standard-democrat.com

PARK HILLS -- The duel between quarterbacks Ethan Stevens and Jake Bridges came down to a takeaway.

With a chance to tie the game within the last minute of the fourth quarter, Stevens led Dexter to the 14-yard line when a third down pass was read perfectly by Park Hills Central's Matt Richardson.

The 6-1 junior stepped in front of the pass and returned the pick 90 yards to the end zone to seal a 42-27 win for Park Hills Central Friday night at Park Hills Central High School.

"There's a lot of positives we can take away from this game," Dexter coach Justin Peden said. "We completed with a top-tier team in the area and were able to do things offensively and defensively that we wanted to do. We had stops, were able to run and throw the ball effectively. We learned that we're a good football team. We were able to execute our game plan, the ball just didn't bounce our way a few times."

Stevens and Bridges, two quarterbacks that parallel each other's skills, one-upped each other all night long.

The Dexter senior finished with 206 yards on 18 of 29 passing and chipped in another 191 yards rushing. Stevens threw and ran for two touchdowns each and also came away with a one-handed interception to halt a drive late in the second quarter.

"He's a tough player to defend," Park Hills Central coach Kory Schweiss said. "You feel like you've got to put extra guys out there to stop him from running the ball and when you do, yo give him a few creases. He's a good enough thrower to make you pay and he did that tonight."

Not to be outdone, Bridges threw three touchdowns on 14 of 18 passing and 271 yards. He also ran for one score and 68 yards on the ground.

Park Hills Central's Matt Richardson (22) tries knocking the ball away from Dexter's Austin Chesser (88) Friday at Park Hills Central High School. Chesser came down with the catch. (Chris Pobst/Standard Democrat)

"Bridges is probably the best, overall quarterback we've seen all year," Peden said. "He made some throws that were special throws. He bought time with his feet and it really was kind of a duel between those two. It was an exciting game to be a part of watching those two go back and forth."

Dexter (3-4) tied the game at 7-all early in the second quarter, but fell one score behind the Rebels from then out.

After a 29-yard run by Stevens pulled the Bearcats within one possession, Dexter tried for the onside kick and nearly snagged it, but Park Hills Central scooped up the bouncer. Just one play later, however, the Bearcats were given new life.

A bad snap that Bridges couldn't get a hand on fell to the ground and was recovered by Dexter's Tyler Stevenson.

Stevens had his chance starting at the 50-yard line with 3:58 remaining.

The senior ran for 14 yards and completed a seven-yard pass to Jason Jarrell that took the Bearcats to Park Hills Central's 14-yard line -- with the help from a personal foul call -- and time winding to under a minute left. Stevens took a quick drop a fired a throw to the left that Richardson jumped on at the 10-yard line. With nothing but green turf in front of him, Richardson sprinted 90 yards for the backbreaking score.

"It was exciting," Peden said. "We were hoping to get down there and get a score. We were throwing the ball well and we were kind of trying to pick our spots to throw and it was a good drive it just didn't work out for us in the end."

Jason Jarrell was Stevens' favorite target snagging nine catches for 99 yards. Stevens' two touchdown passes went to Austin Mitchell -- who's 30-yard score was his only catch of the night -- and Austin Chesser, who caught six passes for 59 yards.

Chesser's 3-yard touchdown catch pulled the Bearcats within 28-20 after a missed PAT. On the very next drive, Bridges led receiver Triston Campbell perfectly down the left sideline. Campbell beat Dexter's only defender standing in his way leading to a 74-yard touchdown. After another missed PAT, Park Hills regained its two possession lead, 34-20.

A reverse to Stevens led to a 39-yard kickoff return to Dexter's 49-yard line to start the next possession. Stevens capped the five-play, 51-yard drive with a 29-yard touchdown scramble to slice the Rebels' lead to 34-27 with 4:07 remaining.

The onside kick recovery and fumbled handoff came next, only leading to Richardson's pick-6 that sealed a Park Hills Central (7-1) victory.

"They kept responding and kept getting back within one score," Schweiss said. "There at the end we were fortunate to recover the onside kick and then we gave it to them on the first play with the fumble. They had their opportunity to get back and tie it. Luckily, Matt came up with the big play and the rest is history."

Dexter07713--27
Park Hills77721 --42

First quarter

P -- Jake Bridges 29 run (Bridges kick), 1:30

Second quarter

D -- Ethan Stevens 2 run (Jason Jarrell kick), 7:36

P -- Nick Haney 17 pass from Jake Bridges (Bridges kick), 6:06

Third quarter

P -- Nick Haney 46 pass from Jake Bridges (Bridges kick), 4:41

D -- Austin Mitchell 30 pass from Ethan Stevens (Jarrell kick), 11.9

Fourth quarter

P -- Drew Harlow 5 run (Bridges kick), 8:58

D -- Austin Chesser 3 pass from Ethan Stevens (Jarrell kick), 6:58

P -- Tristan Campbell 74 pass from Jake Bridges (kick failed), 5:31

D -- Ethan Stevens 29 run (Jarrell kick), 4:07

P -- Matt Richardson 90 interception return (Bridges pass to Keenan Johnson), 30.4

TEAM STATISTICS

DP
First downs2217
Total yards404363
Rushes-yards42-19822-92
Passing yards206271
Comp.-Att.-Int.18-29-214-18-1
Fumbles-lost1-02-1
Penalties-yards8-753-25
Turnovers22

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing -- Dexter, Ethan Stevens 34-191, Carson Dean 7-6, River Chism 1-1. Park Hills Central, Jake Bridges 10-68, Drew Harlow 10-14, Tristan Campbell 1-6, Keenan Johnson 1-4.

Passing -- Dexter, Ethan Stevens 18-29-2 206. Park Hills Central, Jake Bridges 14-18-1 271.

Receiving -- Dexter, Jason Jarrell 9-99, Austin Chesser 6-59, River Chism 2-18, Austin Mitchell 1-30. Park Hills Central, Nick Haney 6-120, Tristan Campbell 5-125, Keenan Johnson 1-15, Matt Richardson 1-6, Will Hopkins 1-5.

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