The Dexter football team scored four times in the first half on their first offensive play of a drive, rarely ever getting to third down in the opening half, in a 56-0 win over host Pioneer on Thursday night in an SEC league game on a perfect night for football.
Dexter led 28-0 after the first quarter and 49-0 at halftime.
The Dreadnaughts, who have won two in a row by a combined score of 100-0, improve to 2-2 after dropping their first two games of the season. It appears the Dreadnaughts have righted the ship. They face a very good Huron team next week.
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Pioneer, coming off an identical 56-0 loss to Saline last Friday, falls to 1-3 on the season. The Pioneers face Bedford next week.
Dexter’s superstar running back Ronnie Johnson scored his first of two rushing touchdowns early in the first quarter. The junior went right up the middle and didn’t stop for 60 yards when he reached the end zone to give Dexter a 7-0 lead with 9:36 left in the first quarter.
Johnson went down the right sideline for his second TD of the game on a 38-yard run to give Dexter a 14-0 lead with 8:45 left in the first quarter.
Quarterback Cooper Arnedt scrambled in the backfield before finding Johnson on the left side of the field on Dexter’s next play from center. Johnson did the rest, going 63 yards for Dexter’s third score and a 21-0 lead. It was the third straight time Dexter scored on its first snap of a possession.
With 2:04 left in the first quarter, Arnedt threw a 20-yard scoring pass to Cole Novara to give the visitors a 28-0 lead.
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On the first play of the second quarter, Arnedt threw a perfect pass to Gabe Rychener, who went up between two Pioneer defenders to get the ball to complete a 60-yard scoring play and push Dexter’s lead to 35-0.
With 8:02 left in the first half, Arnedt threw a 15-yard TD pass to Novara to give the Dreadnaughts a 42-0 lead.
Johnson caught another TD pass from Arnedt in the second quarter and Jack Votaw had a rushing TD in the second half.
Arnedt, only a sophomore, was 8-9 passing for 221 yards and five touchdowns. He also rushed for 32 yards.
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Johnson had another huge game for Dexter. He carried the ball eight times for 135 yards and two rushing touchdowns. He also caught three passes for 99 yards and two more scores.
Votaw, a sophomore, had 55 yards rushing on nine carries.
Novara, a sophomore receiver, had two catches for 35 yards. Rychener had two catches for 51 yards and freshman Holden Niemi had a catch and 36 yards.
Trey Kuhr was perfect in the game on extra points for Dexter.
A dominant Dexter defense helped pitch its second consecutive shutout of the season. The young Dreads were flying to the ball all night and never gave Pioneer’s offense a chance to get out of first gear. Owen Wondrash, a junior linebacker, had another huge game on defense with nine tackles, including two for a loss and one sack. Sophomore LB Charlie Pomo had eight tackles, including one for a loss. Sophomore defensive lineman Mateo Kipke was dominant up front for the Dreads with six tackles, three for a loss and a sack.
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