By ALEX ABATE ~ DAR Sports Writer

SIKESTON -- Sikeston was hungry to beat Dexter on Friday night, and it showed.

The Bulldogs made key conversions and stops when they needed to as they beat the Bearcats for the first time in their last seven meetings, 49-27.

"We played better than we have been playing," Dexter coach Aaron Pixley said. "We missed way too many tackles on defense."

Dexter (0-3) was down 35-27 with time winding down in the fourth quarter but forced the Bulldogs (2-1) into a third-and-5. However, Sikeston quarterback Charlie Bohannon scrambled left and evaded tackles for a 61-yard touchdown scamper that put Sikeston up by two scores with 6:15 left in the game.

Sikeston added a score with less than one minute remaining to set the final margin.

"The quarterback on the bootleg really got us," Pixley said. "We were, at times, not staying home and really flying on the play action away."

Sikeston has multiple weapons in that situation, coach Kent Gibbs said.

"If you look at our offense and the things we have tried to do we are obviously going to attack the edge," Gibbs said. "We've also got some other playmakers besides Eli (Jackson); Charlie (Bohannon) makes a big play."

Dexter was down 28-14 at half and Sikeston stretched its lead to 35-14 before the Bearcats battled back.

Nick Hessling scored from 4 yards out with 43 seconds remaining in the third quarter and an extra point made it 35-21. After a defensive stop, the offense picked up where it left off. Ben Mills got the Bearcats within one score as he found Gary Summers for a 16 -yard strike with 8:11 left in the game, one of 18 completions for Mills.

"I felt like we kept fighting kept playing hard," Pixley said. "I felt like the last drive of theirs, we might have let up just a little bit on their last touchdown. Other than that, I felt like we fought all night long, I never felt like we were out of it until the very end there."

Sikeston took the lead to start the contest with a score, but Dexter answered as Aaron Mace ran the middle for 27 yards at the up 4:39 mark of the first quarter. Dexter took the lead early in the second quarter, as Mills scored from 1 yard out and an extra point made it 14-7 with 11:58 left in the first half.

The Bulldogs tied the game less than three minutes later as Jackson scored from 8 yards out. Bohannon ran for the go-ahead score and threw to Rico go Ivy for a 1-yard touchdown to set the halftime margin.

"We are not a home run type team " Pixley said. "We are not built on speed. Sikeston is twice as fast as we are, their defensive backs were out there pressing us some and just daring us."

Jackson finished the game with 151 yards on the ground and three scores while Bohannon was almost as dangerous, as he ran for two scores on 12 carries for 141 yards.

"We had people around the ball all night long, we just didn't tackle real well," Pixley said.

Hessling finished with 91 yards on 21 carries for the Bearcats while Gary Summers caught eight passes for 118 yards with a long of 31 yards.

The Bearcats welcome in Poplar Bluff on Friday, a team they fell to on the road last season, 42-7.

"We move on to possibly the toughest team on our schedule next week," Pixley said. "We have to stay ready and just keep on keeping on."