Menu
Bearcats rally to win first district title since 2011
DEXTER — For the first time since 2011, the Dexter football Bearcats are district champions — but they had to earn it.
The Bearcats rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit to win the Class 3 District 1 championship 28-13 over the Ste. Genevieve Dragons on Friday night at Charles Bland Stadium.
Dexter trailed at halftime 13-0, having given up two long touchdown runs and committing two turnovers.
However, the Bearcats returned to their ground game to grind out a 14-13 third quarter lead and seize the momentum, which turned into fourth quarter domination to capture the district crown and a trip to the Class 3 state quarterfinals.
Ste. Genevieve opened the game with the first possession and the first score, a 60-yard touchdown run from quarterback Luke Ferranto. After the PAT, the Dragons led 7-0 with 11:03 left in the first quarter.
The Dragons attempted an onside kick, but Dexter handled it and took over at its own 47-yard line. The Bearcats drove the ball to the 12-yard line but turned it over on downs.
“Ste. Genevieve had a great defensive game plan, and a lot of the times we just shot ourselves in the foot,” said Dexter head coach Chad Jamerson. “We knew that if we kept playing our game, we would give ourselves an opportunity to win.”
The Dragons took their next possession all the way to the Dexter one-yard line, where Ferranto was cartwheeled to the ground on fourth down, giving the ball back to the Bearcats.
Dexter moved the ball into the red zone again, but quarterback Jackson Howard fumbled the snap and turned it over to Ste. Genevieve on the Dragons' 15-yard line.
Ferranto ran for another long touchdown, 74 yards this time, but the Dragons' two-point conversion attempt failed, leaving their lead at 13-0 with 5:55 left in the half.
Dexter turned the ball over again, this time on an interception, but the Bearcats' Jason Hervoyavich returned the favor with his own pick at the Dexter 42.
With 1:28 left in the half, Howard hit Devin Turnbo with a long pass that put the ball at the Dragons’ 20-yard line, but four consecutive incomplete passes turned the ball over on downs, and Dexter went to the locker room at the half down by 13.
When asked what he told his team at halftime, Jamerson said, “Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
“We went over some game plans offensively and defensively and with about a minute and a half left I looked at them and said, ‘You don’t need a pep talk — you know what needs to be done.’”
Dexter took the second half kickoff into Ste. Genevieve territory but turned the ball over on downs. After the Dragons were pushed back with a holding penalty, Ferranto threw an interception to Turnbo at the Dexter 39-yard line.
After a three-yard run from Jett Grams, Lee-Michael McDonald ran 58 yards for Dexter’s first touchdown of the night. The PAT cut the Bearcats' deficit to 13-7 with eight minutes left in the third.
McDonald scored again with 1:38 left in the third with a 34-yard touchdown run. The kick gave Dexter its first lead of the game at 14-13.
Jamerson said he never doubted that his team could come back and win the game.
“No doubt at all,” he said. “I know my kids, and I know the adversity that they’ve faced in the past; we always find a way.”
Ste. Genevieve mishandled the ensuing kickoff, starting its next drive from irs own six-yard line. A three-and-out led to a short punt, and Dexter started at the Dragons’ 40-yard line.
The Bearcats completed their next scoring drive with a five-yard touchdown run from Turnbo, and the kick extended their lead to 21-13 with 9:10 left in the fourth quarter.
On Ste. Genevieve’s next play from scrimmage, Ferranto threw another interception to Turnbo, who returned it into Dragons’ territory. Nolan Alford completed the scoring drive with a 13-yard touchdown run, and the kick made it 28-13 with 7:30 left to play.
The Dragons had one more possession, which ended with a turnover on downs with less than four minutes to play. Dexter ran the ball three times for a first down, and with one minute left, the celebration began on the sideline and in the stands.
Jamerson said finally making it to the state playoffs means everything to him.
“I’ve been coaching for 20 years and trying to get to this moment,” he said, “and to bring a district title to Dexter and have the opportunity to be in the playoffs, it just means everything.
“They took a chance on me three years ago, and I’m glad I’m helping to repay it.”
Dexter’s next game is in the state quarterfinals on Nov. 23 against the winner of the District 2 championship between Lift for Life and John Burroughs. That game will be played at 1 p.m. Saturday at John Burroughs School in Ladue.