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Dexter senior defender leads area players on C3 All-State squads
Sunday, December 15, 2024
Dexter High School senior Nolan Alford prepares to lead the Bearcat captains out before the team's MSHSAA Class 3 State Quarterfinal game against Lift For Life at Mehlville High School in St. Louis last month.
Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com
When a football team outscores its opposition throughout a 12-game season by nearly 30 points per game, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that it earns a lot of victories (11 in the case of the Dexter High School squad this fall) and accolades.
Such was the case recently for the Bearcats, who advanced to the MSHSAA Class 3 State Quarterfinals and ended their season with an 11-1 mark.
“It’s been a great year,” third-year Dexter coach Chad Jamerson said following his team’s season. “I’m so proud of all these kids accomplished this year.”
The accomplishments continued into the postseason, as four Bearcat players were recently named to the Missouri Football Coaches Association Class 3 All-State teams.
Bearcat senior defensive end Nolan Alford was named to the First Team.
“I’ve been coaching for 21 years,” Jamerson said during this season, “(and) Nolan Alford may end up being the best player that I ever coach.”
Alford accumulated 54 tackles this fall, with 20 being for a loss. He managed 10 sacks and broke up five passes.
“He has worked so hard in the weight room,” Jamerson said of Alford. “He works so hard in practice. He gives you everything that he has got. He’s humble and he’s got athleticism in spades.
“Every single person wishes they had half of the athleticism of Nolan. I’d be a lot cooler if I did.”
Alford was joined by Bearcat teammates Houston Neely (junior defensive back), Caden Lee (senior offensive line), and Jett Grams (senior running back), who were each named to the Second Team.
Neely made 39 tackles this past season and an astounding eight interceptions.
“Houston is a really good baseball player,” Jamerson said. “That translates really well. Anytime that you take really good baseball players, and put them in the back of your defense, it’s going to help you.”
Neely also broke up four passes and recovered a pair of fumbles.
“Houston is a big-time player in big-time moments,” Jamerson said.
Lee’s ability showed in the numbers that Grams racked up.
Grams ran for 1,219 yards and scored 17 times, many of those yards and touchdowns were the result of following Lee’s blocks.
“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).”
Also earning a spot on the Class 3 Second Team was Kennett junior linebacker Austin Gattis and Kennett senior defensive lineman Kevin Thompson.