Dexter FB set to close out historic regular season

Second-year Dexter High School football coach Chad Jamerson felt good about his 2023 team even before the Bearcats had their first practice in August.

“We’ve grown physically,” Jamerson said as training camp got underway. “We had a really good year in the weight room. A lot of guys put on some size that we needed to put on.

“It’s cliché, but we did get bigger, we did get faster, and we did get stronger.”

What Jamerson knew at that time, has shown to be true, as the Bearcats (6-2) are closing out their most successful regular season since 2011 tonight in hosting Malden (0-8) at 7 p.m. at Charles Bland Stadium.

Jamerson took over the program in early 2022 and got to work developing his players physically and mentally on a daily basis.

“Mentally,” Jamerson said, “I feel like we understand my process of preparation better.”

Dexter has improved in every way imaginable in recent seasons.

The 2023 team is better offensively (it is averaging over 33 points per game, which is the most since 2011), and defensively.

The Bearcats have limited opponents to 20.3 points per outing, which is 11.2 points per game better than a year ago, and the lowest amount since the 2018 squad.

“We make our money on defense and special teams,” Jamerson said, “and what we get on offense is what we get.

“I got that philosophy a long time ago from a good coach, and I’ve kind of patterned some things after that.”

The special teams have been just that, special, as senior kicker Levi Dement has had a solid final season, and junior return man, Lee-Michael McDonald, is a threat to score every time he touches the ball.

“There are a ton of adjectives that you could use to describe Lee-Michael,” Jamerson said earlier this season. “He is explosive. He is a game-changer.”

Offensively, the Bearcats have relied heavily on a deep rotation of runners, most recently junior Jett Grams, who gained over 100 yards in the Bearcat's last game at Central (Park Hills).

“Jett ran the ball well,” Jamerson said following that loss. “But give Park Hills credit, they were able to slow him down just enough to keep us off schedule.”

A victory tonight would probably keep the Bearcats in the second spot within the MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 standings behind the Rebels and head of Ste. Genevieve (5-3).

If that is how the standings are on Saturday morning, then the Bearcats and Rebels would earn byes in the opening week of postseason play on Oct. 27, and Dexter would host the winner of the No. 3 vs. No. 6 matchup, which at this point, would be the Dragons vs. Fredericktown (1-7).

The Bearcats will honor its senior class tonight. Dexter graduates 10 seniors in Jayden Willems, RJ Farmer, Dement, Landon Weathers, Rhyder Williams, Sebastian Ford, Caden Lee, Joseph Noll, Braiden Barnes, and Garrett Coons.