Caruthersville keeps Bootheel bragging rights (and more) with dominant W over Hayti

The Caruthersville defense stuffs a short run near the Hayti end zone on Friday.

Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com

HAYTI – Having won the last two “Battle of the Bootheel” football games by an average margin of 46 points, it was little surprising that Caruthersville claimed a third consecutive title on Friday at Hayti by a comfortable 48-16 margin. However, for a while at least, the Indians made it interesting until the Tigers simply proved too much.

“When you go out and get a big jump,” third-year Tiger coach Dom Guglielmo said of his team taking an early lead, “and then we hit cruise control. Every kid can get a cruise control thing.”

The victory not only gave Class 2 No. 9-ranked Caruthersville (6-1, 4-0 SEMO Conference South) more bragging rights throughout the Bootheel, but it also gave Guglielmo’s program the league title.

Even a loss to Portageville on Friday by Caruthersville, coupled with a Charleston win over East Prairie, would put both the Bluejays and Tigers at 4-1 in the Division, but Caruthersville topped Charleston 34-6 last month.

The Tigers pounced quickly on the Hayti defense when senior quarterback Ryan Guest hooked up on the very first play with senior wide receiver Jermonte Alexander for a 34-yard gain. However, as it did repeatedly in the opening half, the Indians regrouped quickly.

The Hayti defense stopped the Caruthersville drive and opened its offensive series with a 46-yard pass from sophomore quarterback J.C. Ford to sophomore pass catcher Cam Borders.

That momentum was halted by the Caruthersville defense, but the Indians got a big sack of Guest by senior linebacker Monterious Jones on a third-and-short later on.

Ford and senior Tim Hamilton connected for a 44-yard pass play, which ultimately moved the Indians to the Tiger 10-yard line, but a fumble turned the ball over back to Caruthersville, and junior runner Sammy Bryant immediately made the hosts pay a price for that mistake.

On the first play of the drive, Bryant broke through a big hole on the left side of a revamped Caruthersville offensive line (junior left guard Ridge McGraw missed the game with an ankle injury) and sped 86 yards for the first score of the game.

“Settling back into the flow was very important,” Guglielmo said.

The first Tiger points came at the 2:30 mark of the opening quarter, and the second touchdown came 33 seconds later on a pick-six from 35 yards out by Alexander.

“Jermonte is special,” Guglielmo said. “I was really proud of our defensive effort.”

Ford made a nice toss to Borders again on the ensuing drive for 28 yards, but Tiger sophomore linebacker Chazmon Thomas matched Alexander’s exploits with a pick-six from 54 yards out for a 21-0 margin early in the second quarter.

About a minute later, Ford went down with a knee injury and left the stadium via ambulance, but to Hayti’s credit, the Tigers did not fold.

“Anytime there is an injury on the field,” Guglielmo said, “it messes with you. Our kids (and Hayti’s) actually care about each other. A lot of the kids on the field are friends.”

With junior J’Vonta Payne at quarterback for Hayti, he scored on a short burst into the end zone with 7:06 left in the second quarter, before hitting Borders for a two-point conversion and a 21-8 score.

Bryant added another touchdown less than a minute later for a 28-8 margin, followed by Alexander’s eighth interception of the season. However, Hayti sophomore defender Tameryn Turner picked off Guest at the Indian 32-yard line late in the first half, and with 28 seconds on the clock, Payne hit Hamilton for a 34-yard touchdown for a 28-16 halftime score.

“We had to refocus in the locker room,” Guglielmo said.

Following the break, the game belonged to Caruthersville, which got a pair of second-half rushing scores from Alexander.

“Once we refocused,” Guglielmo said, “we started getting back to playing the way that we should have.”

Alexander finished with 157 yards rushing and two offensive touchdowns while catching a pass for 37 yards.

Bryant tallied 183 yards rushing and three scores on the ground.

Senior linebacker Oscar Dominguez had 18 tackles, including three for a loss, and a fumble recovery for a score while Alexander had seven tackles.

Caruthersville got 10 tackles apiece from junior defensive lineman Jermaine Caruthers, senior defensive lineman Emarion Truss, sophomore linebacker Tre’Sean Mays, and junior linebacker Jackson Napier, who added 1 ½ sacks and a pair of tackles for a loss.

Caruthers also connected on 6 of his 7 extra-point kicks.

Tiger sophomore defensive lineman Ryland Harris chipped in nine tackles (four for a loss) to go with two sacks and a couple of pass deflections.

Caruthersville also got nine tackles, a fumble recovery, three tackles for a loss, and 1 ½ sacks from senior defensive lineman Kenyon Bogan.

The Tigers will host Portageville (4-3) on Friday at 7 p.m.

Hayti (2-5, 1-3 SEMO Conference South) will visit Pleasant Hope with Halfway (1-4) on Friday at 7 p.m.