Dexter has too many playmakers for East Prairie in 56-18 rout

EAST PRAIRIE – It’s pretty clear to any casual observer that the Dexter High School football squad has made significant strides from a year ago.

The Bearcats dominated host East Prairie, mostly with an impressive run game, and ran away (no pun intended) with a 56-18 victory.

The win improved Dexter to 3-1, which is the program’s best start since 2017.

“Dexter is a much-improved team from last year,” second-year Eagle coach David Stalker said afterward. “The weight room really showed up for them. They are a lot bigger.”

Both programs are under second-year head coaches, and both programs have shown growth from a year ago.

The Eagles (1-3) looked the part of an evolving program on their opening drive, as they ran off 12 plays that covered 70 yards, capped by a short run by junior runner Connor Marcum.

“We’ve worked really hard on our offense,” Stalker said. “We started throwing the ball a little bit and had some success.”

Eagle junior Tripp Shoemaker made a special play on the opening drive by snaring a tipped pass for a 32-yard gain from junior quarterback Ty Wallace. However, then Dexter got the ball, and the game was decided.

The Bearcats unleashed their bevy of running backs out of a myriad of sets and ran off 29 unanswered points.

“Our kids came out and played really well,” former East Prairie player and coach, and now second-year Dexter coach, Chad Jamerson said. “We got behind, but we came roaring back.”

And it didn’t take long.

On the Bearcats’ second offensive snap, junior speedster Lee-Michael McDonald sprinted 51 yards for a score, and a kick from senior Levi Dement, who had a nice night of kicking, gave Dexter a 7-6 lead that it would never relinquish.

The margin stretched on a 13-yard score from Dexter senior RJ Farmer, who scored twice on the night, and then junior quarterback Jackson Howard tossed a 53-yard scoring strike to junior wide receiver Nolan Alford for a 21-6 margin.

Howard added another score on a short run before Eagle sophomore Tavion Ware ran in for a 14-yard touchdown to pull his team to within 29-12 midway through the second quarter.

Farmer and Ware exchanged scores as the game neared halftime, and McDonald showed his athleticism by tearing off an 85-yard punt return for a 42-18 score at the intermission.

“East Prairie’s offense was kind of difficult to defend,” Jamerson said. “There are a lot of moving parts. They gave us some trouble at times.”

McDonald scored again following halftime while junior power back Jett Grams closed the night with a six-yard burst into the end zone.

Grams finished with a game-high 117 yards while McDonald (91 yards), and Farmer (72 yards) were also productive.

Ware totaled 92 yards on the ground to pace East Prairie while Marcum added 61 yards.

Marcum also had three receptions for 83 yards while Shoemaker had two catches for 38 yards in the loss.

Defensively, Farmer had a pick of Wallace in the end zone, while Bearcat senior defensive lineman Landon Weathers made a team-best 12 stops.

Dexter sophomore linebacker Jason Hervoyavich added nine tackles while Dement made six stops from his linebacker spot, and defensive back Rhyder Williams chipped in five tackles.

Eagle senior linebacker Josh Gephart had five tackles to lead his team defensively.

Dexter will visit Doniphan on Friday at 7 p.m.

East Prairie will travel to Kennett on Friday at 7 p.m.