Bulldogs end on high note

SIKESTON - Considering the circumstances, the Sikeston Bulldogs football team couldn't have asked for a better ending the 2001 season.

After being eliminated from district competition last week, the Bulldogs ended the season with an impressive 44-0 victory over Perryville on Thursday night at SPS Stadium.

The Bulldogs finish the season at 6-4 while Perryville finished 2-8.

The game went about as well as it could for Sikeston, who made it through the contest injury-free while giving several substitutes a chance to get in the action.

"This is a great way to end the season," said Sikeston head coach Charlie Vickery. "You're concerned going into the last game and making sure you're focused -- and we were. Basically we played pretty well overall."

The Bulldogs dominated every aspect of the game, led by a stringent defense that carried the team for most of the year.

Perryville managed just 61 yards of offense and they never threatened to score.

The Bulldog special teams also had another big night, blocking a punt for a touchdown, kicking a field goal and recovering their own kickoff when the ball bounced off a Perryville player's helmet right into the hands of a Bulldog defender.

"The defense played extremely well," said Vickery. "I think we really dominated them up front. I thought we played physical tonight. It was a good overall ballgame for us."

Defensive lineman Justin Lowes made his return after missing most of the Cape Central game and all of the Farmington game. His presence was felt, unofficially recording five tackles for loss and forcing a fumble.

"Regardless of our mistakes, Sikeston just lined up and kicked our butts," said Perryville head coach Lance Bell. "They had some big guys up front that got off the ball well. We made a lot of mistakes and we killed ourselves, but in the long run that's not what did us in. They just had a better team than we did. I just want to tip my hat to Sikeston. They do a great job and they're very well-coached."

For the second week in a row, the Bulldogs had success in the passing department. Blake DeWitt completed 5-of-9 for 81 yards and a touchdown. Drew Lawrence was 3-of-6 for 35 yards.

"We've got confidence in our quarterbacks and our receivers and we were able to protect," said Vickery. "That's just something that we've got to be able to do. I think we've got some good running backs that can mix it up as well. That just makes us a lot more dangerous."

Andrew Lambert had another good night in every phase of the game. He kicked a 37-yard field goal, his seventh of the year. He recorded his eighth interception of the year and he led the team with 62 yards on two receptions.

"Through the air is where they got us the most," said Bell. "Lambert had a good game. I've seen him in track and I knew he could run and jump -- he's a good athlete. He made some good plays against our smaller DBs."

The Bulldogs took a 10-0 lead in the first quarter on Lambert's field goal and a blocked punt, which was recovered in the end zone by Chris Barnes.

The Bulldogs turned the game into a rout in the second quarter. DeWitt found Lambert for a 28-yard TD reception, Lawrence scored on a 3-yard bootleg play and Lavar Morgan scored from one yard out with four seconds left in the half to give the Bulldogs a 30-0 lead.

Sikeston made it 37-0 when Heath Hunter scored on a 1-yard run to enforce the 35-point running clock mercy rule.

Demetrius Fletcher busted through the line late in the fourth quarter for a 39-yard TD run for the final score.

"We've got some young kids on our team and we only graduate nine seniors," said Bell. "We've got a lot of kids coming back and we're going to have to get in the weight room and get a lot bigger than Sikeston was this year."

But unless the Perryville community passes a bond issue next week, then there may not be an athletic program at Perryville High School.

"We don't want to think like that, but it's a travesty," said Bell. "The kids are getting screwed big-time. The juniors are really getting the shaft because they would have to sit out 365 days if they moved to a different school -- so their high school career would be over. It's not just football, it's all sports. I just hope our community knows that and knows how much it's going to hurt the kids. (The kids) get things out of football and other sports that you just can't teach in the classroom. It's not going to bump up their taxes as much as they think it will. I think it's a small price to pay for the future of our kids."

The Bulldogs graduate 21 seniors from this year's team. And it's a group of seniors that Vickery will miss.

"They've been with us longer than any particular group that we've ever had because they're the only ones that had to come up and play jayvee ball as freshman when we had low numbers," said Vickery. "Really, we've been around them for four years and it's going to be a tough group to let go of. Not only talent-wise, but leadership-wise. They're outstanding young men, they're good people, good players and they are fun to be around. That's kind of the reason why you coach, to have a bunch like that."

The senior class went through a lot, from the memorable upset of No. 2 ranked North County in 1999 to the magical 2,000-yard rushing year by Justin Robinson that same year, when his main blockers were the current linemen starters.

Senior kicker Andrew Lambert established himself as one of the best kickers in school history, coming up one shy of Kevin Collins' school records in field goals in a career (14) and season (8).

He was also perfect on extra points the last two years, booting 36 in a row.

But one thing the group didn't accomplish was a district title, which Vickery points to as an unfulfilled goal this year.

"Obviously we would've liked to have been better," he said. "As of tonight, we lost to a 9-0 team and two 8-1 teams and we beat an 8-1 team. I think the biggest disappointment was the Cape game -- we didn't play well that night and Cape did. I'm glad we were able to bounce back and have a winning season. I'm proud of the kids for finishing up strong."

While the senior class made up the nucleus of the team, the Bulldogs return several starters on both sides of the ball.

"I think our prospects look good," said Vickery. "It's going to take a lot of hard work but we've got something to build on. We've got the biggest part of our linebackers, secondary, receivers, running backs and quarterbacks coming back. We lose a lot of linemen and that's going to be an area of concern. We're losing some very good senior leadership, but I think we've got some very good kids coming back. It depends on how they work between now and next season to see how we'll be, but I think we've got a chance."