Dexter FB looks sharp in dominating jamboree

Dexter High School junior running back Jason Hervoyavich (44) runs through the East Prairie defense during a jamboree at Portageville High School on Friday.

Tom Davis ~ TDavis@semoball.com

PORTAGEVILLE – There are several things that fans can take away from watching a high school football jamboree, as discombobulated as it may seem at times. For the Dexter High School followers, they had to have been pretty pleased after watching the Bearcats compete against East Prairie, Kelly, and Portageville on Friday at Vic Reaves Field in Portageville.

“We saw some things that we are excited about,” third-year Bearcat coach Chad Jamerson said following the event. “We saw some things that we need to clean up, and we have to get a couple of guys healthy and ready to play.”

Dexter utilized all 63 of its players throughout the jamboree, and it seemed like regardless of who was in the game, the Bearcats looked strong on both sides of the ball.

“If we can get everybody good to go,” Jamerson said, “we might be OK this year.”

Jamerson’s team looked better than “OK” for most of the night.

The Bearcats ran the ball early against East Prairie’s defense very effectively and closed their opening drive with a touchdown toss from senior Jackson Howard to senior tight end Logan Pullum.

Howard didn’t throw a lot on Friday and in his second series he threw an interception in the red zone. However, he had plenty of time to throw, as his veteran offensive line was impressive.

“Our core five,” Jamerson said, “of Zach Billingsley, Caden Lee, Landon Annesser, tonight it was Walker Jarrell and Paeyton Hartline, that was our core five tonight, but we’ve got Sawyer Rascher, who is dealing with an injury, he will come back and that gives us a whole other dynamic.

“We’ve got Jacob Huey, who can play offensive line. We have Ethan Glaus, who can play some offensive line, and Caleb Gott, even. We’re pretty blessed. A lot of schools would be happy to have two or three linemen of the caliber that we have, and we’re looking at six or seven deep.”

Throughout the night, that line cleared lanes for Bearcat runners pathways to the end zone.

Against Portageville to close the night, senior Lee-Michael McDonald shredded the Bulldog defense, as did senior Nolan Alford.

Even when the Bearcats played their junior varsity, freshman runner Noah Tinnin scored on a nice scamper around the end while sophomore quarterback Will Guethle hit sophomore receiver Carson Hurt for a couple of scores.

“There is some talent there,” Jamerson said of his younger players. “One thing that we have going for us with that young group is that they have bought into the system. They have bought into what we do on offense and defense.

“I think that is very important because we are different than other teams on offense. We ask a lot more out of every kid in this offense.”

The Bearcats are coming off a 6-3 season last fall, which was the program’s most successful season since winning nine games in 2011.

Dexter will travel to Malden on Friday for both team’s regular-season opener at 7 p.m.