Sikeston football's undefeated season comes to a crashing halt

Sikeston Standard Democrat

Sunday, November 22, 2009

The Sikeston Bulldogs are shown here in a Sikeston Standard Democrat file photo.

JEFFERSON CITY -- The Sikeston Bulldogs dream season came to a nightmarish end Saturday afternoon, falling 37-8 to Jefferson City Helias in the Class 4 semifinals.

Sikeston, making their first semifinal appearance in school history, fell behind early to the Crusaders. On Helias' first offensive play, running back Brad Wilson took an option pitch and raced 67 yards to the end zone, giving the Crusaders an early lead.

On the ensuing Sikeston possession, quarterback Juqualin Wiggins was intercepted by Helias as the ball was returned to the Bulldog 19-yard line. The Sikeston defense held, but a Helias field goal made the score 10-0 with 7:23 remaining in the first quarter.

The Crusaders weren't done however, as fullback Conner White scored from 16 yards out and giving Helias a 16-0 advantage with 3:02 remaining in the first quarter.

The shell-shocked Bulldogs showed signs of life in the second quarter, taking advantage of two Helias penalties on third downs to put together a long drive that ended on a two-yard Wiggins touchdown run with 1:43 left in the first half. Wiggins then hit Niquavious Dixon for the two-point conversion and Sikeston trailed just 16-8.

The Bulldogs looked as if they were right back in the game when Trey Lewis intercepted a Clint Distler pass with 1:30 remaining in the first half, however, momentum changed quickly as Helias recovered a Sikeston fumble on the following play. The Crusaders took advantage as Distler hit Wilson for a 16-yard touchdown pass with 29 seconds remaining in the first half, giving Helias a 23-8 lead at halftime.

On the third play of the second half, Distler hit Joe Knaup with a 74-yard touchdown pass giving Helias a 30-8 lead. On the Crusaders next possession, Distler once again hit Knaup, this time for a 75-yard touchdown pass and the Crusaders put the game away 37-8.

Sikeston finished the season with a 13-1 record while Helias (14-0) will take on Kearney in the Class 4 State Championship game Friday afternoon at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.

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That fumble the play after the interception shifted the momentum of the entire game.

-- Posted by cletusleroy on Sat, Nov 21, 2009, at 10:59 PM
Good season sikeston but it didnt help that the conference was weak and yall had almost easy wins every week.... get some stl area schools next year and just maybe yall make it next year, good season tho start hittin them weights becuz yall the one 2 beat now

-- Posted by CapeTiger4 on Sun, Nov 22, 2009, at 3:21 AM
Wow!!!helias!!!b

-- Posted by DonaldTrump on Sun, Nov 22, 2009, at 6:31 AM
Wow!!!helias!!!b

-- Posted by DonaldTrump on Sun, Nov 22, 2009, at 6:31 AM
Does Sikeston have anything coming back or was this a one time senior run??

-- Posted by RedShirt on Sun, Nov 22, 2009, at 9:06 AM
Sikeston returns 3 offensive linemen, one linebacker, one corner, one defensive linemen and one receiver from the starting units. They return two backs and another lineman who saw somewhat frequent spot duty.

-- Posted by Cully Bryant on Sun, Nov 22, 2009, at 9:38 AM
1 DB, 1 Lb, and 4 dline that started at one time or another.

Offense, they lose all but 4.

-- Posted by HeHateMeToo on Sun, Nov 22, 2009, at 11:08 AM
next year for sikeston the main players will be trey lewis, ray clark, corey porter. And all three are big time players

-- Posted by go getta on Sun, Nov 22, 2009, at 11:49 AM
Specifically, Sikeston will return the following starters:

Trey Lewis - DB/WR

Ray Clark - LB

Ben Burton - OL/DL

Corey Porter - OL/DL

Treston Pulley - OL (rotated in at LB)

They return the following players who saw a reasonable amount of action:

Dustin Brister - WR/OLB

Shaquille Sherrod - RB

James Watson - RB

Taylor Causey - DL

Michael Perkins - DL

Sikeston loses:

7 starters on defense

7 starters on offense

They lose QB, all starting RBs, the 2 most productive receivers, kicker, punter, long snapper, holder.

BUT, the cupboard is not completely bare. Remember, this is a team that, regardless of strength of schedule, won 13 games and made it to the final four, which means that the starters were REALLY good. The backups are not bad football players, and would start for many area teams. I think people will be surprised at how well Sikeston is able to fill the voids next year. Look for Shaquille Sherrod, James Watson and Ray Clark to provide some spark in the backfield. Trey Lewis returns and will be a prime target at receiver for either Drew Harper, Luke Keefer or David Foster - one of whom will fill the huge shoes of Juqualin Wiggins. The O-line will be fine with 3 returning starters and several good backups waiting in the wings. Having Ray Clark and Trey Lewis back on defense will be huge, plus, Corey Porter and Ben Burton will return to anchor the defensive line. Don't believe Sikeston will be 13-1 again next year, but I wouldn't count them out of the district race.

-- Posted by Cully Bryant on Sun, Nov 22, 2009, at 11:51 AM
Heard Central was going back to 4A next year in football so that will probably put them in same district with Sikeston, Bluff and Farmington..

-- Posted by crackerjack on Sun, Nov 22, 2009, at 2:07 PM
Thank God! Get rid of that West Plains trip. That was ridiculous.

-- Posted by Cully Bryant on Sun, Nov 22, 2009, at 2:41 PM
West Plains is as good as gone from Sikeston's district. IF Cape does indeed fall to Class 4 I am sure they will fill the void. If not maybe North County??

-- Posted by sportsfanatic on Sun, Nov 22, 2009, at 2:47 PM
sportsfanatic, where do you get your info? Every time I try to find out this stuff, all I can discover is "class and district assignments are not yet determined."

-- Posted by Cully Bryant on Sun, Nov 22, 2009, at 2:55 PM
IF Cape does fall back to class 4, where in the world are they going to put West Plains? Those poor guys are a class 4 school literally sitting out in the middle of nowhere. There just isn't a good spot to put them.

-- Posted by Cully Bryant on Sun, Nov 22, 2009, at 2:56 PM
football monkey---sportsfanatic got the information on Cape Central from my post..I am from Cape and was told last weekend that Central would be 4A next year..They were only 5A by about 40 students...It might not happen but I did hear hear it from someone who should know..Guess we'll see later this year..

-- Posted by crackerjack on Sun, Nov 22, 2009, at 4:50 PM
Thanks, bulletman. Personally, I like the potential of Cape, Farmington, PB and Sikeston being in the same district. There is just no tradition at all with the West Plains game and the travel is a nightmare. If this is the district next year, I think it could be completely up for grabs.

-- Posted by Cully Bryant on Sun, Nov 22, 2009, at 5:08 PM
monkey...if thats the district next year...Cape should win it....all seniors coming back and Coach Payne to boot !!

-- Posted by RedShirt on Sun, Nov 22, 2009, at 6:28 PM
cape will not make any noise next year because they are not going to fall to class 4 and if they did sikeston and farmington would walk all over them.

-- Posted by go getta on Mon, Nov 23, 2009, at 4:44 PM
I confirmed tonight that Central will be class 4A next year so "go getta" you will get to find out if Cape will make any noise...

-- Posted by crackerjack on Mon, Nov 23, 2009, at 8:52 PM
No one can yet confirm for a certainty where the classes will break, but if Cape does go back into Class 4 their district opponents will most likely be Sikeston, Bluff and West Plains, not Farmington. This was the alignment 2 years ago when Cape was Class 4 and I doubt it will change.

-- Posted by mythoughts2 on Mon, Nov 23, 2009, at 11:37 PM

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