Dexter’s first football winning streak in years came to an end on Friday night at home against Jackson. The Dreadnaughts, winners of their last two games, lost 29-19 to undefeated Jackson to fall to 2-2 on the season.
Dexter defeated Ypsilanti and Huron to improve to 2-1 on the season before Friday’s loss.
Jackson improved to 4-0 on the season.
The Dreadnaughts started out strong. Senior wide receiver Andy Durand caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from sophomore QB Colin Parachek in the first quarter. Karl Kerska booted the extra point to give the home team a 7-0 lead.
But the Vikings responded. The visitors scored on an 11-yard TD pass and converted the two-point conversion to take an 8-7 lead, which they would never surrender.
Jackson scored its second TD of the first quarter on a 13-yard TD run to push the lead to 15-7.
The Dreadnaughts scored a second-quarter TD to cut the deficit to 15-13 at halftime.
The back and forth continued in the third quarter. Jackson scored on a rushing TD to push the lead to 22-13. But the Dreadnaughts answered to pull within 22-19 after three quarters.
The Vikings put the game away on a short run with 20 seconds left to play to cap off a 22-play, 81-yard drive that kept the ball out of the hands of the Dexter offense. The Dreads never got a chance to take the lead in the final quarter.
Jackson dominated the stat sheet, thanks in part to that final drive. The Vikings ran 75 plays to Dexter’s 41 and out-gained the Dreads 442-208 in total yards.
The Dreadnaughts face Adrian on Friday. Dexter Coach Phil Jacobs had plenty of success during his tenure as coach of the Maples, who are struggling this year. Adrian lost Friday night to Tecumseh 47-14 to fall to 0-4 on the season.
Dexter then faces Tecumseh (1-3), Pinckney (1-3), Lincoln (3-1) and Whitehall (3-0). Pinckney lost to Ypsilanti 40-28 on Friday. The Dreads defeated Ypsilanti in week two. Lincoln defeated Chelsea 26-16 on Friday. The Bulldogs defeated the Dreads to open the season.
The playoffs are still within reach for the Dreadnaughts. A win over Adrian would get Dexter to three wins meaning they would have to win three of their last four to grab a playoff spot.
