Last week Dexter won its first football in almost five years. The second win came just seven days later as the Dreadnaughts built a 16-0 halftime lead and never looked back in a 37-14 win Friday night against Ann Arbor Huron.
Dexter quarterback Colin Parachek used his legs to move the chains and his arm to put up points, throwing two touchdowns in the victory in an SEC crossover game at Huron. The explosive running of Antwan Ficklin and a tenacious defense did the rest.
The River Rats came into the game at 0-2 but showed considerable improvement for a team searching to end a long losing streak. It was a step back for Huron, who were outplayed on both sides of the ball in the first half by the talented Dreadnaughts. Huron played a much stronger second half but couldn’t overcome the first-half deficit.
Dexter got on the board on its second possession of the ballgame. As was typical for the game, the Dreadnaughts started the drive with excellent field position. A few nice runs by Parachek brought the visitors inside the red zone.
Jordan Watson banged it in from the 1-yard line and Karl Kerska kicked the extra point to make it 7-0 Dexter with 5:13 left in the first quarter.
Huron had a nice play on a 25-yard pass play between quarterback Cameron Donell and Ibraheem Joseph. But the River Rats couldn’t turn the play into points and the drive stalled.
Dexter scored again when Evan Chapell blocked a punt in the end zone after a big defensive stand by the Dreadnaughts pushed the River Rats back near the goal line. Chapell raced around the end and got his hands on the ball, which deflected out of the end zone for two points to make it 9-0 with 10:56 left in the second quarter.
Midway through the second quarter, Dexter went for it on fourth and 10 on the Huron side of the field and picked it up on a pass from Parachek to Ficklin.
The Dreads scored their second TD of the game when Parachek lofted a pass in the end zone along the sideline and Zach Koone made a great catch in traffic and stayed in bounds for six points. Kerska booted the extra point and Dexter led 16-0 with 6:42 left in the first half.
Midway through the third quarter, Parachek lofted a perfect pass to the far corner of the end zone to Alex Mills, who caught it in stride and stayed in bounds before running through the giant Huron helmet. The extra point was missed and Dexter led 22-0 with 7:20 left in the third quarter.
The River Rats, much to their credit, didn’t fold up the tent and head home after falling behind 22-0. After two pass interference calls on the Dreads helped move the ball down the field, Donell took it in from one yard out for the home team’s first score of the game. Donell passed to Bradon Rawls for the two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 22-8 with 2:06 left in the third quarter.
WATCH VIDEO FROM THE WIN: https://welovedexter.com/video-watch-highlights-from-dexters-win-over-ann-arbor-huron/
Late in the third quarter, Huron’s Joseph picked off a pass from Parachek and was making his way toward the end zone when he fumbled the ball, which was recovered by the Dreadnaughts.
Dexter put the game away early in the fourth quarter. Parachek rolled out to his left and at the last minute fired a pass to Ficklin who raced down the sideline, picked up a nice block along the way and raced 69 yards for a Dexter TC with 11:48 left in the game. Kerska’s extra point was good and Dexter led 29-8.
Jordan Watson scored from five yards out for Dexter with 9:27 left in the game. Watson ran it in for the two-point conversion to make it 37-8.
Huron’s Jaylin Mathews scored on a short run around the end to cut it to 37-14.
