Semoball

SPOILER: Sikeston homecoming spoiled by rival Cape Central 33-0

Sikeston's Gage Rolwing tries to find running room against Cape Central Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, at Sikeston Public Schools Stadium.
David Jenkins/Standard Democrat

SIKESTON — The Cape Central Tigers utilized big plays to spoil Sikeston’s homecoming on Friday night.

The Tigers posted five touchdowns of at least 22 yards while the Bulldogs’ offense continued its struggles, at Sikeston Public Schools Stadium, as Cape Central prevailed 33-0 to snap a four-game regular-season losing streak to Sikeston.

The game also marked the return of former Bulldog coach Kent Gibbs, now in his first season with Cape Central.

Sikeston (1-4, 0-3 SEMO Conference) was blanked for the second straight game, twice coming up short in the red zone, including once reaching the 4-yard line only to come up empty. The other drive ended with a fumble at the 18.

“They say lightning doesn’t strike twice, but it struck more than twice tonight,” Sikeston coach Terry Flannigan said. “Some of them plays just killed us on some of our drives. When you’re playing a team you’re equal with; you can’t do things like that.”

Cape Central (3-2, 1-2 SEMO) took full advantage of Sikeston’s mistakes, even converting a 3rd and 33 on an 87-yard pass from elusive quarterback Cameron Cox to speedster Tyrus Reddin.

“That’s our young kids,” Flannigan said. “That’s our youth showing. Teams like Bluff did it, and Jackson did it, and tonight Cape did it. They’re going to search out those young guys. They’re learning, but they’re learning the hard way.”

The Tigers scored on their opening drive, converting two fourth downs in the process, including on 4th and 9 when Cox, who somehow eluded Sikeston’s defensive pressure, found Henry Brown wide open in the end zone for a 22-yard TD.

“I think what happens on that, we’re stopped really, and the quarterback’s able to break a tackle, and we got lucky on a big play,” Gibbs said. “You get that momentum early against two teams that are evenly matched and it makes a big difference.”

After holding the Bulldogs on downs, the Tigers scored on its next play when Reddin ran wide for a 29-yard TD to lead 14-0.

A fumble by the Bulldogs in the second quarter set up Reddin’s 87-yard TD reception and then the Tigers finished the first half with an 80-yard drive when they took possession with 53 seconds left and needed just three plays to reach the end zone when Cox hit Brown for a 24-yard TD.

Cape Central held a 27-0 lead at the half.

Cox had 187 yards passing in the first half, much of it coming by him keeping the play alive with his legs.

“No doubt that’s a benefactor for anybody that’s got a kid like that on offense,” Gibbs said. “Cam’s a competitor is what he is. He never wants to give up on a play. You can see what he can do, if he can keep a play going, he can find his open receivers, and he does a good job of it.”

Cape Central scored on its opening possession of the second half after recovering a Bulldog fumble as Reddin broke free for a 25-yard TD run to lead 33-0.

Reddin scored three touchdowns and had 66 yards rushing on eight carries to go with his 87-yard reception.

Cox finished with 205 yards passing and three touchdowns.

The Tigers had 323 yards of total offense.

One positive for the Bulldogs was 199 yards of offense, which marks the second-highest output of the season.

Lontas McClinton led the team with 85 yards rushing on 10 carries while J’Marlon Moore finished with 80 yards on 10 carries.

“I just told the kids when we started; there’s two things that bothered me when I watched the film, No. 1 we weren’t very physical and No. 2 we don’t focus and finish,” Flannigan said. “That’s something that they’re going to have to learn, and we’re going to have to pound it in their head. You can’t mess up and let it affect you for four or five plays. We’ll keep pounding away and put our nose to the grindstone and get ready for a ‘W’ next week.”

Sikeston will travel to Charleston next Friday.

As for Gibbs, who spent 12 successful years as Sikeston’s coach, returning to face his former team, and coaching staff brought back some memories for the Hall of Fame coach.

“I’ll be honest about it, it was a little more emotional than I thought it would be,” he said. “You can’t just leave things behind and not have good memories and not remember the struggles you had together and the things that you did, not just with the coaches but the kids too. It was something early, and once the game got going, obviously it’s another game. But it was good to see some of the guys and some of the people here in Sikeston after the game that came to talk to me.”

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First Quarter

C — Henry Brown 22 pass from Cameron Cox (Breyton Osburn kick), 6:39

C — Tyrus Reddin 29 run (Osburn kick), 4:17

Second Quarter

C — Reddin 87 pass from Cox (kick failed), 7:15

C — Brown 24 pass from Cox (Osburn kick), 0:29

Third Quarter

C — Reddin 25 run (run failed), 10:35

TEAM STATISTICS

CS
First Downs911
Total yards323199
Rushes-yards34-11844-166
Passing yards20533
Comp.-Att.-Int.10-14-17-13-0
Fumbles-lost1-04-2
Penalties-yards12-786-60
Turnovers12

 

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing – Cape Central, Tyrus Reddin 8-66, DaShawn Franklin 7-25, Cameren Walley 8-14, Cameron Cox 4-12, Donye Taylor 1-8, Chris Harris 5-7, Team 1-(-14). Sikeston, Lontas McClinton 10-85, J’Marlon Moore 10-80, Keon Graham 1-7, Nathaniel Vaughan 1-1, Jonathan Green 1-0, Joseph Heckemeyer 2-0, Team 2-(-6).

Passing – Cape Central, Cameron Cox 10-14-1 205. Sikeston, Gage Rolwing 6-11-0 31, Sam Drury 1-1-0 2, Joseph Heckemeyer 0-1-0 0.

Receiving – Cape Central, Tyrus Reddin 1-87, Henry Brown 5-85, Donye Taylor 2-12, Damione Edwards 1-12.

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