The story goes that when the Beatles first played the Ed Sullivan Show in February, 1964, New York City recorded its lowest crime rate in history because everyone was home watching the Fab Four on TV. Fast forward to October 2022 and the same probably could be said for Dexter because how could there be any crimes committed when the entire town was at Al Ritt Stadium – along with half of Saline.
And what a show everyone saw – yeah, yeah, yeah!
The Dexter Dreadnaughts won their first ever SEC league title, improved to 8-0 overall on the season with one game left – can’t remember who that’s against at the moment – and they did it by beating one of the best Division 1 programs in the state 21-14 in a downright thriller under the lights in Dexter. The Hornets, whose 52-game SEC winning streak came to an end last week against Bedford, hadn’t lost consecutive games since 2011.
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Saline (6-2 overall) beat Dexter 42-40 last year in a shootout at Saline. The last time the Dreadnaughts defeated the Hornets – keep in mind they didn’t face each other very often – was in 2005 when Dexter scored a 45-41 victory.
Friday night’s victory was a wild ride thrill ride from the opening kickoff right down to the final 11 seconds of the game. Let’s start at the end – mix it up a little bit.
Dexter had just broken a 14-14 tie with a touchdown with just under 6 minutes to play in the game to lead 21-14. Saline junior QB CJ Carr (who has committed to Notre Dame) started to lead his team down the field against Dexter’s superb defense.
Saline had the ball at the Dexter 15-yard line with 20 seconds left facing fourth down and 5. They needed a touchdown and an extra point – they got neither. Carr dropped back to pass, couldn’t find a receiver and took off running up the middle. Dexter’s Brock Komaromi made an outstanding diving tackle on Carr at about the 12-yard line. Carr fumbled and Dexter’s Brennan Parachek recovered at about the 9-yard line to end the game.
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And, yes, the place went wild. Yeah, yeah, yeah!
Saline opened the game with an impressive 80-yard march down the field, ending with a Ryan Niethammer 1-yard run. Saline led 6-0 with 7:17 left in the opening quarter – the extra-point attempt failed.
After Dexter went three and out, Saline again drove down the field and it looked like the visitors would score again. But facing fourth and 1 at the Dexter 13-yard line, the Hornets fumbled and Devon Emrick recovered for the Dreadnaughts.
Dexter went 87 yards on 17 plays capped off by a 5-yard TD run by Cole Cabana to tie the game at 6-6. Gerzon Herter (remember that name) made the extra point and Dexter led 7-6 with 8:49 left in the second quarter. That drive included Dexter going for it on fourth and 1 at the Saline 41-yard line and picking up the first down on a Cabana run.
Dexter senior Micah Davis picked off a Carr pass and returned it 18 yards to the Saline 37-yard line and the Dreadnaughts were in business. A 14-yard screen pass from Reeves Taylor to Cabana gave Dexter a 14-6 lead with 5:52 left in the first half.
And while the scoring was over for the first half, the drama was certainly not.
With 2 seconds left in the half, Saline had the ball at the Dexter 4-yard line. Instead of kicking the field goal – maybe the earlier botched extra point was part of the equation – Saline added up the pros and cons and went for it. Herter, a senior defensive back, made a huge defensive play in the end zone to knock away a Carr pass and send Dexter into halftime leading 14-6. It was Herter’s second big defensive play on that drive and it was the Dreadnaughts who headed to the locker room buzzing, not the Hornets.
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After Dexter was forced to punt, Saline went 55 yards on eight plays to cut the deficit to 14-12 after a QB keeper from Carr from five yards out. Saline converted the two-point conversion and the game was tied at 14-14 with 7:26 left in the third quarter.
Dexter started marching down the field, including a 25-yard pass to Parachek and a 12-yard run by Cabana. But the drive stalled and the Dreadnaughts punted facing a fourth and eight.
Saline couldn’t get anything rolling and had to punt the ball back to Dexter. Cabana then fumbled near midfield and Saline recovered at its own 46-yard line.
Facing a fourth and 3 at the 47, Saline lined up to go for it but an off-sides penalty handed them a fresh set of downs. The Hornets faced another fourth down and this time went for it – but were denied by the Dexter defense.
With 9:48 left in the game, Dexter got the ball at its own 35-yard line and went right to work. After a nice pickup on a pass play from Taylor to Parachek, the Dexter senior QB threw a 29-yard pass to Cabana who took the ball to the 5-yard line. Saline stopped the first three attempts in the red zone but the Dreadnaughts went for it on fourth and 2 and Cabana took it in for what turned out to be the game-winning score that covered 65 yards in nine plays. The TD gave Dexter a 21-14 lead with 5:54 left in the game.
Dexter (7-0 overall, 6-0 SEC Red and league champions) travel to Chelsea next week. And while Bedford ended Saline’s streak last week, the Dreadnaughts would like to end a different streak this coming week on its already magical mystery tour. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Taylor completed 12 of 17 passes for 118 yards and the TD toss to Cabana. Cabana finished with 137 yards rushing on 27 attempts and two rushing TDs. Joey Tessmer had five catches for 31 yards, and Cabana (46 yards) and Parachek (40 yards) each had three catches.
The Dexter defense continues to contributions from multiple players. Parachek had 10 tackles, including three for loss; Davis had nine tackles, an interception and a huge fourth-down breakup; Brock Komaromi had 8 tackles, blocked an extra point and tackled Carr on Saline’s last play; Brendan Valerio had 9 tackles, 1 for loss; Niko Michos had 9 tackles; Nate Baughman had a great game with 7 tackles; and Herter had 7 tackles and that big pass break up in the end zone on the last play of the first half.
Final SEC Standings
SEC Red Football Standings School (Enrollment - Class / Division) - SEC Red W-L / All W-L - Dexter (1,180 - A / 2) - 7-0 / 8-0 - 2022 SEC Red Football Champion Ann Arbor Huron (1,858 - A / 1) - 5-2 / 5-3 Bedford (1,396 - A / 2) - 5-2 / 6-2 Saline (1,756 - A / 1) - 5-2 / 6-2 Monroe (1,761 - A / 1) - 3-4 / 3-5 Lincoln (1,224 - A / 2) - 2-5 / 3-5 Ann Arbor Pioneer (2,108 - A / 1) - 1-6 / 1-7 Ann Arbor Skyline (1,537 - A / 1) - 0-7 / 0-8 * SEC White Football Standings School (Enrollment - Class / Division) - SEC White W-L / All W-L - Tecumseh (737 - B / 4) - 5-0 / 8-0 - 2022 SEC White Football Champion Chelsea (799 - B / 4) - 4-1 / 5-3 Jackson (1,120 - A / 2) - 3-2 / 4-4 Adrian (786 - B / 4) - 2-3 / 4-4 Pinckney (772 - B / 4) - 1-4 / 2-6 Ypsilanti (1,055 - A / 3) - 0-5 / 1-7
