Dexter FB has thrived with 'one of the best' coaching staffs

Dexter High School defensive coordinator Greg Lummukka watches the Bearcats compete against Southern Boone earlier this season at Charles Bland Stadium in Dexter.

Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com

Third-year Dexter High School football coach Chad Jamerson has received a lot of kudos for guiding his team to only the fourth undefeated season in program history this fall, as he should. However, he will be the first to say that it takes a village to raise a football program to this level.

Jamerson has driven the (figurative) bus to a 9-0 mark, an SEMO Conference Central Division championship, and the top seed in the MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 Playoff. However, he has also relied heavily upon the work and knowledge of assistant coaches Greg Lummukka, Jason Comfort, Luke Boyer, Dan McCoy, Jason Aycock, and Dakota Southerland.

“It’s been a blessing to work with these guys,” Jamerson said recently. “Every day, they come in and do the job.

“This is one of the best (coaching) staffs that I have been a part of.”

That is saying something, given that Jamerson has been a part of 21 coaching staffs.

Dexter High School offensive line coach Luke Boyer speaks with his players during a game against Southern Boone earlier this season at Charles Bland Stadium in Dexter. (Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com)

Jamerson refers to Lummukka, who serves as the Bearcats’ defensive coordinator, as his “right-hand man.”

“I bounce ideas off of him all the time,” Jamerson said. “He’s running our defense for us and prepping our defensive game plans.”

So far, Lummukka’s work has been historic this season.

Bearcat opponents have scored, on average, just one touchdown per game, which is by far the most stringent defense by this program in the past 15 years, and perhaps, ever.

Jamerson didn’t have to look far to find a good model to guide his offensive line, just a nearby bean field.

Boyer, who played for the Bearcats, and is a Stoddard County farmer, has been instrumental in helping the offense average nearly 45 points per game, which again, may be the best ever.

“Luke works his tail off,” Jamerson said. “He is passionate about Bearcat football, and he is passionate about offensive line play.”

Boyer’s boys have played a huge role in Dexter senior fullback Jett Grams totaling over 900 yards this season.

“That (1,000-yard mark) is kind of a threshold for running backs,” Jamerson said.

In Jamerson’s 12 years of orchestrating an offense, he has only had one player run for 1,000 yards in his offense.

“I spread the ball around so much,” Jamerson said of his play calling. “That is quite a testament to (Grams).”

Dexter High School special teams coach Jason Comfort speaks with Bearcat junior Devin Turnbo during a game against Southern Boone earlier this season at Charles Bland Stadium in Dexter. (Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com)

McCoy helps Lummukka with the defense and works full-time as a counselor at Southwest Elementary School. His day job often carries over into Friday nights, according to Jamerson.

“When I start being a little erratic or a little crazy,” Jamerson explained, “Dan is the guy who keeps me safe and keeps me grounded.”

Comfort oversees the Dexter special teams and is often the public face of the program, according to Jamerson.

“He is ‘Mr. Bearcat,’ or sometimes I call him ‘Mr. Mayor,’” Jamerson said. “He handles a lot of public relations. If I need something out in the community, I know that if I ask Jason, he is going to take care of it.”

Aycock has ties to Jamerson from the very beginning.

He hired Jamerson at East Prairie High School in 2005 when Aycock was the Eagles’ head coach.

“He’s my mentor,” Jamerson said of the first-year Bearcat assistant coach. “I love how this has come full circle. He understands what I am trying to accomplish offensively and what I like offensively.

“He is just another person that I can trust and who has been around the game for a long time.”

Southerland “is also new to the staff,” Jamerson explained.

Southerland handles a lot of the “analytical stuff,” according to Jamerson.

The No. 1-seed Bearcats will open their postseason on Friday at Charles Bland Stadium at 7 p.m. against Fredericktown (4-6) in the MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 Playoff.

“This is two years in a row with a home playoff game,” Jamerson said. “That is a big deal.”