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Bearcats win first game
MALDEN -- The first win seems to be the hardest for a team to get. But after four weeks the Dexter Bearcats finally got their first win over the Malden Greenwave in a 41-7 game.
"Anytime you get a win it's a positive and we needed it bad," said Pixley. "Quite honestly I was worried about it. Whenever your 0-4 you don't know how your going to respond to anything. They were a little quiet before the game and I didn't really know how to take that but they came out playing hard."
Dexter had control of the offensive and defensive lines pretty much all game long. The Greenwave actually gained 139 yards but the Dexter defense forced the Greenwave back for a loss of 60 yards. Malden finished the game with 79 rushing yards and 72 passing yards.
"We still have our same problems between the tackles," Malden head coach Gary Blaylock said. "We have to get some blocking. For about nine minutes we looked pretty good from the second quarter on, but then we fell apart again. We just can't go three and out and give them the ball all the time. We just got out-maned. They attacked us. We can't keep the ball. We got to score."
Defensive pressure by the Bearcats had Malden's quarterback, Kaleb Loughary, off balance during his progression after the snap.
"You can't take your six to eight steps on your pattern," Blaylock said that he told his wide receivers during the game. "You got to look after two or three because he doesn't have time. He had to lay it out there a little more than he liked because he had to get it out there early."
Dexter recorded three sacks on defense for a total of 15 yards lost and also had one interception and forced two fumbles.
"The defense played very well tonight," Pixley said. "They gave up a few big plays and we got to stop that. They've (Malden) got some good athletes and a serious threat at wide receiver and their quarterback throws the ball well. I felt like we did a pretty good job of pressuring him. We didn't get very many sacks but we put enough pressure on him to make him throw the ball probably sooner than he wanted."
Offensively, Dexter was led on the ground by Seth McBride. He rushed for 102 yards and two touchdowns taking over primarily for the injured Nick Hessling. Hessling went down with an injury in the first half but continued to play on the defensive side. Even with limited play in the tailback position, Hessling ran for 31 yards and two touchdowns.
"Nick (Hessling) took a helmet to the ankle in the first half and we felt like we had to get him out of there," Pixley said. "Seth (McBride) did a good job of stepping in there and making some plays. Seth McBride did not play football last year so he's still learning a bunch about football too."
Ben Mills threw for 162 yards and one touchdown on 10 completions and also ran for a 13-yard scrambling touchdown. The touchdown pass was thrown to Caleb Stanley for a 4-yard score. Mills also threw three interceptions which is something that was uncommon for him to do during last season when he threw for a total of five the whole year. Although he has nearly doubled that total within the first five games of this season, Pixley feels like there is little room for concern.
"We definitely got to stop that," Pixley said. "But, it's not like he's out there trying to throw interceptions, he's trying to make plays. But, he made a lot of really good throws too and that's a positive."
It was sort of bitter-sweet after their first win for the Bearcats as they saw one of their teammates fall to an injury. Sophomore Aaron Mace suffered an injury during a touchdown run that sidelined him for the rest of the game. Then following the Bearcats final team huddle after the game, the affects of the injury took its toll.
Mace was evacuated by a helicopter to St. Francis Medical Center mostly for precautionary measures.
"Right now we don't really know," Pixley said. "It's all precautionary. I think he'll be fine but we just have to make sure."
Mace had five total tackles which was enough to lead Dexter in that category. He also caught one pass for 14 yards and had two touches on the ground for five yards.
Dexter will be taking their momentum back home with them next Friday when they will host the Charleston Bluejays.
"Whenever your 0-4 and you get your first win it's real good and positive to get that second one," said Pixley. "It's our first conference game so it means a lot and it's at our place. Charleston's always a very talented football team that gets after you. We have to correct some things. We are not there yet by any means. We're a long way from it."