Dexter to bring 'physicality' into this week's BIG match-up with No. 5 foe

Dexter High School sophomore defensive back Jaxon Miller knocks the Malden quarterback off his feet with a hit in the Bearcats' win over the Green Wave earlier this season at Malden.

Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com

With each passing week of success, the stakes that the Dexter High School football squad is playing for increase.

“It only gets tougher from here,” third-year Bearcat coach Chad Jamerson said recently following a win. “We’ve got to keep working hard and good things will happen.”

Dexter (4-0) is ranked No. 6 in the latest Class 3 poll and sits atop the MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 standings with 48.83 points, just ahead of District power Central (Park Hills) (3-1), which has 44.25 points.

The Bearcats will step out of SEMO Conference play on Friday at 7 p.m., but that doesn’t mean the challenge lessens. Dexter will host Class 3 No. 5-ranked Southern Boone (3-1), a program Dexter hasn’t faced in at least 15 years, and maybe never.

Jamerson’s team will certainly be disappointed if Southern Boone wins the game, however, the Bearcat athletes will also be disappointed if the Eagles even SCORE.

The Bearcat starters on defense continued their exemplary season last Friday, by shutting out East Prairie 36-0.

“Physicality has found its way, not in football, as it has been in the past,” Jamerson said of the evolving game. “That is something that we want to be, is physical.

“No one wants to be punched in the face for four quarters.”

Already potent Dexter FB wants to get even better via the air

Tom Davis

Dexter High School football fans are immersed in one of the most exciting seasons in recent memory, so they aren't overly concerned with the Bearcats' ho-hum passing numbers, thus far. However, third-year coach Chad Jamerson, at the very least, has that issue on his radar.

East Prairie had scored 82 combined points in wins over New Madrid County Central and Chaffee prior to its game against the Bearcats, but it couldn’t reach the end zone at all against a Bearcat defense, which has only allowed 15 points to be scored (all against its backups) all season.

“Sooner or later,” Jamerson continued on his defensive philosophy, “somebody is not going to bring you as much after you have punched them in the face. Sooner or later, you’re going to get worn down.

“That is our philosophy both offensively and defensively.”

The Bearcats are off to their best start in over 15 seasons (and maybe ever), and they have done so with a level of toughness displayed by an experienced offensive and defensive line, the power of fullback Jett Grams, and a swarming athletic defensive backfield.

“It wears (teams) down,” Jamerson said, “and that is what we want to do in the fourth quarter when that time comes.”

Jamerson said that Tuesday practices can get a bit physical, as his team prepares each week, and that will be needed this week.

Southern Boone has won 11 of its past 15 games and is holding its opponents, on average, to fewer than 10 points per game.

“I feel like this (style) is required for this game,” Jamerson said. “You need to be strong, intense, and fast. When someone lines up across from you in a different jersey, they’re not your friend anymore.

“We treat it that way in practice.”

With 19 seniors on this year’s roster, which is extraordinarily deep, Jamerson has the luxury to play many guys just one way, which keeps them fresh throughout the game.

“This is their third year in our system,” Jamerson said of the Class of 2025, “and for several of them, their third year of starting. We are going to reap a pretty good crop from all that we have planted with these guys.”