By Matthew Bartow / WLD
Dexter came into Hornet Stadium, looking to do what no Southeastern Conference team had since 2013: beat Saline, Michigan’s third-ranked team in Division 1.
Coupled with the facts that Saline was gunning for the SEC title and is led by four-star quarterback prospect C.J. Carr, the Dreadnaughts faced an uphill battle.
Dexter proved up for the challenge, but became another victim in Saline’s 45-game conference win streak, falling 42-40.
Dexter showed that it was able to compete with one of the best programs in the state. The Dreadnaughts and Hornets scored six touchdowns apiece. A blocked extra point and a failed two-point conversion was all that separated the teams from overtime.
“Our kids battled to the very end,” said Dexter head coach Phil Jacobs. “[Quarterback] Cal Bavineau carried this team on his back tonight. He made some great decisions and willed us into the end zone. It was one of the gutsiest high school performances I’ve seen from a kid.”
Bavineau and Dexter running back Cole Cabana each scored three touchdowns, as Dexter’s offense posted 434 total yards and gave Saline everything it could handle.
Trailing 28-13 after Saline scored touchdowns on its final possession of the first half and first drive of the second half, Dexter’s offense found the end zone on its final four possessions of the game.
On its first drive of the second half, Dexter looked in trouble after a penalty forced a third-and-17. Bavineau made one of his best plays of the night, scrambling for 18 yards to keep the drive alive. Six plays later, Cabana scored on a 13-yard rush to cut Saline’s lead to 28-20 with 7:50 remaining in the third quarter.
Dexter pinned Saline inside the Hornets’ 10-yard line, but couldn’t get the needed stop. The Dreads had a golden chance to stop Saline on fourth down, but Carr scrambled for a 17-yard gain into the red zone. Saline running back Ryan Niethammer scored from one yard out three plays later to restore Saline’s two score lead.
Dexter answered with a 15 play, 65-yard scoring drive that lasted nearly 7 minutes. The drive looked in trouble after a holding penalty brought up third-and-22, but a 14-yard run from Cabana gave the Dreads a chance on fourth down. Dexter capitalized: receiver Ty Rychener made a highlight-reel, leaping catch in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown. Devon Durliat’s extra point made it 35-27 Saline with 8:57 remaining.
Instead of kicking deep, Dexter looked into its bag of tricks and caught Saline off guard with an onside kick. Bavineau recovered his own kick to set Dexter up in Hornet territory trailing by one score. The Dreadnaught offense marched down the field, scoring eight running plays later on a Bavineau option keeper from two yards out, cutting Saline’s lead to 35-33 with 5:57 remaining.
A blocked extra point in the first half meant Dexter needed a two-point conversion to tie the game, but Dexter’s attempt failed and Saline retained its slim lead.
Saline nearly killed the remainder of the clock with an 11 play, 67-yard drive that left Dexter in a nine-point hole with 58 seconds left, but the Dreads didn’t quit. Two Saline penalties and a 24-yard screen pass from Bavineau to Cabana set Dexter up in the red zone, and the Dreads scored on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Bavineau to receiver Braeden Fuson with 15 seconds left to cut Saline’s lead to 42-40.
Dexter attempted an onside kick in a last-ditch effort, but was unsuccessful.
The schedule for Dexter doesn’t get any easier, as it hosts rival Chelsea, the top-ranked team in Division 4, next Friday in the regular season finale. The game will kick off at 7 p.m.
Jacobs said he hopes Dexter’s tough schedule will prepare it for the playoffs, should it qualify.
“If 5-4 gets us in, which hopefully it does, fingers-crossed, I think we’re a battle-tested team for sure,” he said. “It’s a hard loss right here; we had it. I think we’re going to be a tough out in Division 2 and we got a good football team. I think the [Southeastern Conference] Red Division has prepared us speed-wise, size-wise, and physicality and everything.”
