Dexter FB to bring a 'rock 'em, sock 'em robot' in senior powerback to Malden

Dexter High School senior fullback Jett Grams watches his teammates compete during a recent jamboree at Portageville High School.

Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com

The Dexter High School football squad has 18 seniors on its 2024 roster, and many, many of them are ultra-talented, including fullback Jett Grams.

“Jett has had an excellent summer,” third-year Bearcat coach Chad Jamerson said. “And he has had an excellent start to this season, as well.”

The Bearcats are coming off an impressive performance in a jamboree against Portageville, East Prairie, and Kelly, and will travel to Malden tonight at 7 p.m. for their regular season opener.

For Grams, he will be part of a stunningly talented offensive backfield that includes seniors Nolan Alford and Lee-Michael McDonald, as well as juniors Devin Turnbo and Jason Hervoyavich. However, none of those players pack the power of Grams.

“Jett is a vital part of what we do on offense,” Jamerson said. “I’m going to be honest with you, it is going to be difficult for teams to bring him down.”

Grams, who ran for 56 yards and scored twice against the Green Wave in 2023, won’t catch the Malden coaching staff by surprise, despite Green Wave coach Treston Pulley being in his first season with the program.

Pulley has seen first-hand what Grams can do over the last three seasons when he coached at Sikeston High School and had to face Dexter.

“It’s no respect to anybody,” Jamerson said. “Jett is 240 pounds of rock ‘em, sock ‘em robot.”

The Bearcats have an abundance of speed from Alford and McDonald, who may be the most explosive athlete in the Bootheel, while Hervoyavich and Grams just pound defensive fronts to death.

“Jett is a man when the football is in his hands.”

Grams was an All-SEMO Conference Central Division First Team selection as a junior, and Jamerson also brings back All-SEMO Conference players in senior Logan Pullum (tight end), McDonald (athlete), senior Caden Lee (offensive line), Alford (linebacker), and senior Jackson Howard (punter and quarterback), senior Sawyer Rascher (offensive line), and senior Caleb Gott (defensive line).

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

The Bearcats have strung together four consecutive wins over the Green Wave, including setting a program record for offensive production in beating them a year ago 78-8.