'Dogs in search of first win against option-oriented team

Thursday, September 28, 2006
Sikeston Bulldog sophomore Charlie Bohannon will get his first varsity start Friday night.

FARMINGTON -- The Sikeston Bulldogs football team will be on the road once again this week as they travel to play the Farmington Knights tomorrow night at 7 p.m.

The Knights come into the game ranked No. 1 in the Southeast Missouri media poll so Bulldog head coach Jerry Dement knows his team will have to show much improvement to have a chance against the Mineral Area school.

"They're really a good ballclub -- they're going to have the most complex offense that we've seen," said Dement.

Farmington will run a midline option offense which is different from anything Sikeston has seen this season.

"They're multi-dimensional on offense," said Dement. "They run an option offense which we don't see a whole lot of anymore. They really run it well, the midline option. They've got three very good kids that do that at quarterback, fullback and tailback."

The Knights are led in rushing by returning 1,000-yard ground gainer Travis Ribbing, who has rushed for 340 yards on 49 carries with four touchdowns. The 6-0, 192-pound senior has also booted four field goals this season.

Junior Aaron Baker runs the show behind center. He's rushed for 210 yards on 40 carries with five touchdowns, and has thrown for 344 yards with two scores, completing 18-of-34 passes.

Fullback Kendall May has rushed for 157 yards on 33 carries with a pair of touchdowns.

"We've really put a lot of time in on assignment football," said Dement. "You really have to be disciplined to do your assignments against option teams. The idea with options is if somebody helps somebody else, that's where the ball goes."

Parks Peterson is the team's top receiving threat, having caught 10 passes for 143 yards.

Farmington enters the game with a 3-1 record, having dispatched for Fox, Seckman and Hillsboro but wide margins. The Knights' only loss came to Waynesville, 21-7.

The Bulldogs are still in search of their first win after an 0-4 start. With starting quarterback Chase Ferrell lost for the season with a broken bone in his lower leg, Sikeston has had to scramble to find a quarterback.

Last week junior Michael Payne got the nod. Tomorrow night sophomore Charlie Bohannon will start things off, although Dement said both will play.

"He's another young one with Chase getting hurt," said Dement. "We're going to use both of them again. Neither one of them really separated themselves that much last week against Jackson. They'll both get some snaps there. Charlie's done some nice things in practice. We think he's ready to do the job. We're not asking him to win the game for us. We're asking him just to maintain his composure and be efficient."

Sikeston owns the series history with Farmington 16-11-1, but the Knights have had more success recently, winning six of the last eight against the Bulldogs.

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