Sikeston football team flattens Perryville

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Sikeston wanted to show a few wrinkles in Friday's Class 4 District 1 opener.

The Bulldogs showed new formations, including the swinging gate on extra-point tries, and a lot of different players received touches in their 58-0 victory against Perryville.

While the new tactics worked well against the young and inexperienced Perryville squad, Sikeston coach Kent Gibbs hopes future opponents Central and Farmington will take note, giving them something extra to prepare for in the coming weeks.

"We've been working on some things the last couple weeks to have for the districts," Gibbs said. "Maybe give us an edge here and there."

Sikeston had a slow start for the second time in as many weeks. It fumbled away the ball on its first snap of the game.

The Bulldogs overcame the miscue by scoring on their next six possessions and adding a defensive touchdown, their sixth of the season, to build an insurmountable 51-0 halftime lead.

Sikeston came out on offense with new variations, even sending linemen out wide where receivers normally line up.

The Bulldogs got on the board on Keldon Warfield's 37-yard touchdown reception from David Foster then added a 2-point conversion out of the swinging gate formation with Warfield and Foster hooking up again with 5 minutes, 35 seconds left in the first quarter.

James Watson scored on touchdown runs of 2 and 18 yards, Chris Word added a 25-yard TD run, and Watson returned an interception 20 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.

"Sikeston's loaded for bear," Perryville coach Mike Wojtczuk said. "Coach Gibbs and I go way back, and I know what kind of program he runs because I worked for coach Gibbs for about eight years when he was at Fredericktown. I know he demands excellence. He's done a great job with that football program. They've got some great athletes and they're gonna go places."

Sikeston's longest scoring drive of the game was 58 yards. Five of the Bulldogs' scoring drives started in Perryville territory.

The Bulldogs defense forced four turnovers, and Perryville's offense lost 10 yards in the first half. The Pirates finished with 53 yards on offense.

"It was kind of Murphy's Law tonight -- if it can go wrong, it did go wrong," Wojtczuk said. "We've been so beat up and we're really young. We're playing lots and lots of sophomores and juniors.

"Like I told the kids at the end of the game, I told them a little bit about where Sikeston was a few years ago and where they are now. We've got to start as soon as the season is over and work on next year. We've got to get in the weight room and come together as a group. I think we've got a good nucleus of kids to build on and we'll see what happens."

Sikeston 23 28 0 7 -- 58

Perryville 0 0 0 0 -- 0

First Quarter

S -- Keldon Warfield 37 pass from David Foster (Warfield pass from Foster), 5:35

S -- Spenser Clark 32 pass from Foster (Hunter Williams kick), 4:17

S -- Chris Word 14 run (Markeith Bratcher run), 0:58

Second Quarter

S -- James Watson 2 run (Williams kick), 10:44

S -- Watson 18 run (Williams kick), 8:28

S -- Word 25 run (Williams kick), 4:54

S -- Watson 20 interception return (Williams kick), 3:07

Fourth Quarter

S -- Reese Porter 45 run (Williams kick), 10:30

S P

First downs 9 3

Rushes-yards 29-249 35-51

Passing yards 104 2

Passes 6-7-0 1-13-2

Punts 2-61 8-156

Fumbles-lost 2-2 4-2

Penalties-yards 4-31 0-0

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Sikeston, Chris Word 4-77, Reese Porter 5-71, James Watson 5-37, David Foster 4-30, Chase Davis 2-10, Kyland Gross 1-9, Markeith Bratcher 1-6, Pat Gross 2-6, Clay Porter 4-4, Team 1-(-1). Perryville, Wyatt McAfee 21-77, Robert Brewer 3-0, Devin Blandford 1-(-2), Jonny Pruiett 1-(-2), Levi Zook 4-(-1), Team 2-(-9), Cody Call 3-(-12).

PASSING -- Sikeston, David Foster 6-7-0 104. Perryville, Cody Call 1-13-2 2.

RECEIVING -- Sikeston, Keldon Warfield 4-78, Spenser Clark 1-32, Kyland Gross 1-14. Perryville, Levi Zook 1-2.