Big-play Eagles accumulate 560 yards passing in 56-41 victory over Dexter

Dexter's Juan Cuevas (right) tries to bring down NMCC's Ken King during the first quarter Friday, Sept. 10, 2021, at Charles Bland Stadium in Dexter. (DEXTER STATESMAN/Kyle Smith)

DEXTER — Big plays were the recipe for success for the Dexter Bearcats and New Madrid County Central Eagles on Friday night.

In the end NMCC made more of them and recorded a 56-41 victory at Charles Bland Stadium.

The Eagles made most of their noise on offense with the passing game.

NMCC quarterback Matt Riley completed 19 of 30 for 560 yards with six touchdowns and two interceptions. Four different players caught touchdowns with Shamar Williamson catching three of them. Marcelous Phillips, Adrian Smith and BJ Williamson had one apiece.

“We’ve got a lot of weapons,” NMCC coach Tyler Fullhart said. “We’ve got a lot of great athletes on our team. They've been in the system for a while now. They understand what is there what the defense has given them, and we were able to complete passes and (put) a nice score (up) there.”

The big plays weren’t limited to passing plays. Shamar Williamson returned a kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown, and Corvel Williams scored on an 18-yard run.

“They are a very, very talented team,” Dexter coach Aaron Pixley said. “Their coaches have a great scheme for their kids, and whenever they go, they can execute it with the best of them. We knew how talented they were. We knew that we had to be at our best at all times to even have a chance. They're a big play machine. They can score from anywhere on the field and they showed that tonight.”

The Eagles didn’t waste any time getting on the scoreboard.

Riley connected with Shamar Williamson for a 40-yard gain on the first play from scrimmage. Logan Josupait made a touchdown-saving tackle.

However, on the next play, Williams raced to his left and into the end zone for a 6-0 lead only 26 seconds into the game.

After an interception by Jason Jones, the Eagles drove to the Dexter 21-yard line, where they fumbled. Josupait recovered it and ran 78 yards to the NMCC 3. Kaeden Kennedy gained 2 yards on first and goal and scored on the next play. After Levi Dement made the extra point, the Bearcats held a 7-6 lead with 5:48 to play in the opening quarter.

The score remained the same into the second quarter where the teams combined for 42 points.

Only 2:21 into the second quarter, Riley passed to Shamar Williamson in the right flat, and Williamson raced 79 yards for a touchdown. Williams scored the two-point conversion, giving NMCC a 14-7 lead.

The Bearcats went three-and-out on the ensuing possession, and NMCC struck again on its first play. Riley completed a screen pass to BJ Williamson, who ran 92 yards for a touchdown. The two-point conversion attempt failed and the Eagles increased their lead to 20-7 with 8:10 left in the half.

Riley connected with a third different receiver for a touchdown with 3:45 left. Riley completed a pass to Marcelous Phillips up the middle, and Phillips scored a 35-yard touchdown. Phillips caught a pass from BJ Williamson for a two-point conversion, and the Eagles led 28-7.

The Bearcats struck back behind the bruising running of quarterback Josh Alday, who rushed for 23 yards on three carries. He applied a number of big hits during that stretch.

“Early on, we had a lot of good runs. We just weren't breaking them,” Pixley said. “A lot of 3- and 4-yard runs and then about halfway through the second quarter, we got on the edge and broke some sweep-type stuff and ran some speed option that worked for us.”

Kaeden Kennedy capped the 57-yard drive with a 10-yard run. After Dement kicked the extra point, the Eagles’ lead was reduced to 28-14 with 1:28 to go.

“A good play caller is gonna find some weakness in the defense and try to exploit it, and that's what they did,” Fullhart said. “We had to make a couple adjustments to try to slow that down and do a better job on other places on defense, but overall I'm OK with it. We’ve got to clean up some stuff, and we will.”

Dexter’s momentum was short-lived, as Shamar Williamson returned the kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown. The Bearcats intercepted the two-point conversion pass and the score remained 34-14 with 1:14 remaining.

The Bearcats answered 13 seconds later. After Kennedy gained 13 yards on a pitch to the right side, Alday threw to a wide-open Damon Helton for a 32-yard touchdown. Helton caught the ball near the 1 and he stepped over the goal line for the TD. Dement’s kick sliced NMCC’s lead to 34-21 with 1:01 remaining.

Jamian Golden intercepted a pass from Alday and Taylor Condict intercepted a pass by Riley in the final minute, and the score remained the same at halftime.

The Eagles overcame penalties for a personal foul and a false start inside their own 5 to extend their lead to 42-21 in the third quarter. They were aided by a pass interference penalty by Dexter. On the next play, Riley and Adrian Smith connected for a 58-yard touchdown. After BJ Williamson scored the two-point conversion, the Eagles stretched their lead to 21 points.

After a short 5-yard gain by Jaxen Grams on the kickoff, Alday busted through the defense for an 82-yard touchdown run down the right sideline, cutting the deficit to 42-27 with 6:37 to play in the third. Dexter missed the extra-point kick.

The Bearcats stopped NMCC on fourth down on the ensuing possession, and they took over at their own 40. After a pair of runs by Alday, Kennedy hauled in a short pass down the left sideline and raced 47 yards for a touchdown. Condict caught a pass in the right side of the end zone for a two-point conversion, and the Bearcats reduced the lead to 42-35 with 3:21 left in the third.

With less than a minute left in the quarter, Riley connected with Shamar Williamson for a short gain, and Williamson outran the Dexter defense, breaking a tackle along the way, for a 59-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion run failed, and NMCC took a 48-35 lead into the final quarter.

“We kept getting down more and more and we kept coming back,” Pixley said. “We didn't have quite enough firepower to come all the way back. We needed to get more stops and we didn’t.”

The Bearcats appeared to take a chunk out of NMCC’s lead early in the fourth quarter. Alday ran 19 yards for a touchdown, but the score was called back because of a holding penalty.

On fourth and 11, Condict caught a 20-yard pass from Alday near the out-of-bounds line on the left side of the end zone. However, he was ruled out of bounds.

NMCC overcame a holding penalty to finish off the Bearcats on the ensuing possession. On third and 21, Shamar Williamson got behind the Bearcats’ defense and Riley completed the pass for a 70-yard touchdown with 6:22 remaining. Williams’ run up the middle produced the two-point conversion, and the Eagles led 56-35.

The Bearcats added another touchdown with 2:59 left in the game on Alday’s 1-yard run, trimming the lead to 56-41.

First quarter

NMCC — Corvel Williams 18 run (pass fails), 11:34

DEX — Kaeden Kennedy 1 run (Levi Dement kick), 5:48.

Second quarter

NMCC — Shamar Williamson 79 pass from Matt Riley (Corvel Williams run), 9:39.

NMCC — BJ Williamson 92 pass from Matt Riley (run fails), 8:10.

NMCC — Marcelous Phillips 35 pass from Matt Riley (Marcelous Phillips pass from BJ Williamson), 3:45.

DEX — Kaeden Kennedy 10 run (Levi Dement kick), 1:28.

NMCC — Shamar Williamson 80 kickoff return (pass intercepted), 1:14.

DEX — Damon Helton 32 pass from Josh Alday (Levi Dement kick), 1:01.

Third quarter

NMCC — Adrian Smith 58 pass from Matt Riley (BJ Williamson run), 6:59.

DEX — Josh Alday 82 run (kick fails), 6:37.

DEX — Kaeden Kennedy 47 pass from Josh Alday (Taylor Condict pass from Josh Alday), 3:21.

NMCC — Shamar Williamson 59 pass from Matt Riley (run fails), 46.6.

Fourth quarter

NMCC — Shamar Williamson 70 pass from Matt Riley (Corvel Williams run), 6:22.

DEX — Josh Alday 1 run (kick fails), 2:59.

RUSHING: NMCC, Williams 13-54, Matt Riley 2-1, BJ Williamson 2-1. Dexter, Josh Alday 22-199, Kaeden Kennedy 21-81, Taylor Condict 6-45 RJ Farmer 3-21.

PASSING: NMCC, Matt Riley 19-30-2 560. Dexter, Josh Alday 9-27-2 159.

RECEIVING: NMCC, Shamar Williamson, 5-256, BJ Williamson 3-114, Marcelous Phillips 5-93, Adrian Smith 2-79, Ken King 4-18, Dexter, Kennedy 2-50, Greenfield 3-47, Helton 1-32, RJ Farmer 1-19, Condict 1-9, Logan Josupait 1-2.