It’s no secret that the Sikeston Bulldogs have been their own worst enemy at times this season. While there were still some missed opportunities on Friday at New Madrid County Central, the Bulldogs cashed in just enough times on offense while the defense came up with timely stops to defeat the Eagles, 28-20. It’s the 11th straight time Sikeston has beaten the Eagles dating back to 2008, but more importantly it was a crucial win for a Bulldogs team that was needing a boost in the Class 4, District 1 standings. I’m proud of the kids,” Sikeston coach Terry Flannigan said. “The players did great. I’m happy for them. A lot of people were doubting them and we came in here and took care of business.” For NMCC (5-3), it was a missed opportunity to finally beat Sikeston. “I’m kind of an outsider here, but [the Sikeston game] means a lot to the community and it means a lot to the kids and I wanted it for them,” NMCC coach Tyler Fullhart said. “We had a good game-plan going in but Sikeston countered it and they did a good job and came out victorious.” Sikeston did it with defense, forcing four Eagle turnovers in the game. NMCC scored on its opening drive of the second half, but Sikeston held the Eagles on downs twice, forced a turnover, and then held them on downs one last time with 1:00 left to seal the game. “We just knew we had to come in here and play our butts off and take care of it,” Sikeston quarterback Gage Rolwing said. “We had a lot of young guys step up tonight. A lot of freshmen stepped up and played good for us.” Rolwing was a warrior all night and seemed to be everywhere on both sides of the ball. He threw for a season-high 210 yards, completing 5 of 14 passes, and he rushed for 104 yards on 21 carries with two touchdowns. He had numerous runs on broken down pass plays in which he tucked and would run for positive yards. “I would see a hole and just take off,” Rolwing said. In addition, Rolwing was able to find Lontas McClinton and Keon Graham for big passing yards. McClinton had two receptions for 117 yards, including a 90-yarder, and Graham had three receptions for 93 yards. McClinton also rushed for 86 yards on 12 carries. “I just give it to my offensive line and my QB for getting it in my hands and I give it to the team for trusting me with it,” McClinton said. Things weren’t all great for Sikeston to start the game as NMCC recovered an onside kick to start the game and then promptly marched 55 yards on nine plays, scoring on Christen Phillips’ 9-yard pass to Kenyon King to take an early 6-0 lead. Sikeston (3-5) could not muster any offense in the early going until Rolwing connected with McClinton for a 90-yard play, but did not score as the officials signaled that he stepped out of bounds inside the 1. From there disaster happened as the next snap sailed over Rolwing’s head for a loss of six. The Bulldogs eventually turned it over on downs. After a Graham interception, Sikeston once again marched into NMCC territory, reaching as deep as the 3 only to come up short for a second time. However, the drive set the tone for NMCC’s drive, which stalled and led to a 10-yard punt. This time Rolwing cashed in with an 11-yard TD run followed by sophomore Dylan Thornbrough’s extra point to give the Bulldogs a 7-6 lead that they would never relinquish. On the Eagles’ ensuing possession, Bulldog senior Charlie Boyce scooped up a fumble and was brought down at the NMCC 19. Rolwing scrambled free on the next snap for a 19-yard TD run to lead 14-6. “We shot ourselves in the foot several times,” Fullhart said. “Bad penalties. Penalties at the wrong time. Dropped passes. Missed blocks. Things that will get you beat.” Rolwing intercepted a Phillips pass on the next NMCC drive and that led to another Bulldogs touchdown, this time from Graham on a 3-yard fly sweep to lead 21-6 with 2:46 left in the half. The Eagles responded as bulldozing running back Quazavion Jackson rumbled 57 yards into the red zone to set up his 5-yard TD run to trim the lead to 21-12 heading into halftime. NMCC appeared to capture the momentum of the game to start the third quarter when Jackson capped a 42-yard drive with a 12-yard TD run and subsequent two-point conversion run to cut Sikeston’s lead to 21-20. Then the Eagles’ defense held Sikeston on downs on the ensuing drive to set NMCC up with good field position at the Bulldog 43. Get your Semoball fix in one daily email Your email address Sikeston’s defense took control of the game from there, holding the Eagles on downs two straight possessions. Then, with the game in the balance, and NMCC once again backed up to its own end zone, the Bulldogs pressured Phillips into a fumble that sophomore Collin Lape dove on and recovered for a touchdown. Thornbrough’s extra point extended the lead to 28-20 with 3:11 left in the game. NMCC had one last drive and reached as deep as the Bulldog 27, but three straight passes fell incomplete to seal the win for Sikeston. Perhaps the most telling stat of the game was zero turnovers for the Bulldogs, compared to four for the Eagles. “It was a great game for our kids,” Flannigan said. “We got down deep inside the red zone and don’t get it in three times, but we still found a way to win. That tells you that we’re getting a little bit better, but we still have to finish off these drives.” Sikeston racked up season-highs in passing yards with 210 and total yards with 377. “Gage has been calling me out a little bit in practice, ‘we need to pass more. We need to pass more,’” Flannigan said. “Sometimes I’m a little ornery myself and a little stubborn. I’m an old power ball guy. Sometimes when somebody mentions throwing the ball I kind of get sick to my stomach, but I sure didn’t get sick tonight.” NMCC hurt itself with 13 penalties for 90 yards, but the Eagles piled up 378 yards of offense led by Jackson with 139 yards rushing on 29 carries and two scores. Phillips completed 17 of 27 passes for 213 yards. Austin Davis had seven receptions for 144 yards. “We knew big No. 34 [Jackson] was going to tote the mail,” Flannigan said. “He’s a load to bring down. We did a good job and got after them, especially against that kid tonight. It took four or five people to get him down half the time. That’s the way we want to play every week. I’m glad that happened and now we can show them on film and say, ‘look here, look what we did when we had to do it.’” NMCC will play at Caruthersville next Friday while Sikeston will host Kennett on Friday. “We don’t have many left so we just have to go into next week with a bunch of confidence and play great,” Rolwing said. Sikeston 0 21 0 7 — 28 NMCC 6 6 0 8 — 20 First Quarter N — Kenyon King 9 pass from Christen Phillips (pass failed), 8:39 Second Quarter S — Gage Rolwing 11 run (Dylan Thornbrough kick), 7:11 S — Rolwing 19 run (Thornbrough kick), 6:15 S — Keon Graham 3 run (Thornbrough kick), 2:46 N — Quazavion Jackson 5 run (run failed), 1:22 Third Quarter N — Jackson 12 run (Jackson run), 9:13 Fourth Quarter S — Collin Lape fumble recovery in end zone (Thornbrough kick), 3:11 TEAM STATISTICS S N First Downs 15 13 Total yards 377 378 Rushes-yards 43-167 41-165 Passing yards 210 213 Comp.-Att.-Int. 5-14-0 17-27-2 Fumbles-lost 2-0 3-2 Penalties-yards 9-48 13-90 Turnovers 0 4 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing – Sikeston, Gage Rolwing 21-104, Lontas McClinton 12-86, Keon Graham 3-6, Jonathan Green 1-3, J’Marlon Moore 2-(-4), Team 4-(-28). NMCC, Quazavion Jackson 29-139, Christen Phillips 9-16, Jaden McFerren 1-6, Austin Davis 2-4. Passing – Sikeston, Gage Rolwing 5-14-0 210. NMCC, Christen Phillips 16-26-2 169. Receiving – Sikeston, Lontas McClinton 2-117, Keon Graham 3-93. NMCC, Austin Davis 7-144, Kenyon King 3-34, Bryshawn Williams 4-24, Jaden McFerren 3-11.