PARK HILLS -- The Dexter Bearcats' late-season surge ended against the team in which it began.
Park Hills Central, who lost to Dexter 13-7 three weeks ago, handed the Bearcats a 13-6 setback Friday night in the MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 semifinals.
The Bearcats won three straight games, including a 25-19, triple-overtime defeat of Ste. Genevieve on Oct. 26 to win their first postseason game since 2010.
Dexter coach Aaron Pixley said that his team didn't lose to Central because of a lack of effort.
"We had great effort the whole night, led by our seniors who have been leading us for the last four or five weeks," Pixley said. "I'm just so proud of them. I know we went 5-5 and for a lot of people, they may think that's so-so. Typically, I do, but this is a different 5-5."
The Bearcats never fielded their "A" team this season because of injuries. They were without multiple starters Friday night, including quarterback Haden Hillis who was injured on the game's opening drive.
"With the enormous amount of adversity we've dealt with this year, for us to battle through and battle back and give ourselves an opportunity to play for a district title, no one in the world gave us that shot," Pixley said. "Only we believed it. I love these kids for that. I'm very proud of this football team."
In an evenly matched game, second-seeded Central gained a foothold with a big play late in the third quarter.
Freshman Dayshawn Welch ran to the right and raced 67 yards for a touchdown.
"We had a big pickup there," Central coach Kory Schweiss said. "We had a freshman in the game with just a handful of carries all year. Called him up after the freshman season, and he had a big carry for us. Our other running backs ran hard all night, getting the crap beaten out of them because Dexter is a very physical football team. We got some fresh legs in there and he made a big play for us."
Justin Bridges kicked the extra point, and the Rebels led 13-6 with 1:27 left in the third.
"They hit the big play whenever they needed it," Pixley said. "We could never get anything going the second half, but both teams played with great effort just like the first game. Probably all in all (there was) more effort this game than the first one. The first one was sloppy by both teams."
The sixth-seeded Bearcats gained 217 yards of total offense but only had 51 in the second half.
"Defensively, we played well all year. No exception tonight," Schweiss said. "We made a few mistakes early in the game with the way we defended the counter trey. Obviously, we got that fixed at halftime. I don't know how many yards they had the second half, but it wasn't very many."
The Rebels amassed 269 yards of total offense with 227 rushing. Welch rushed for a team-high 74 yards on four carries. Gage Manion gained 57 yards on 18 attempts, and Will Hopkins had 55 yards on 16 carries.
Dexter tallied 184 yards rushing with Corbin Strong gaining a game-high 115 on 14 carries. Caleb Hoggard added 77 on 19 tries.
With Peyton Driskill at quarterback for the last half of the possession, the Bearcats turned their opening drive into a 6-0 lead. Strong broke loose for a 23-yard touchdown run with 6:29 left in the first quarter. The two-point conversion attempt failed.
"I felt like we came out, and we moved the football good on that first drive," Pixley said. "We went ahead and played good defense. Going in 6-6 at halftime, I felt really good. They just made one more play than we did."
The Bearcats offense drove 76 yards on 12 plays but didn't see the field again until the second quarter because Central followed with a long drive of its own.
The Rebels drove to the Dexter 10-yard line as time expired in the first quarter and faced a fourth and 9 to begin the second. Bridges lined up for a field-goal attempt. Instead, Dawson Day ran right for a 10-yard touchdown.
A bad snap resulted in Bridges attempting to convert a two-point conversion, and he was tackled for a loss.
The Rebels fumbled three times -- losing possession twice -- and Dexter lost a fumble in the third quarter.
Braxton Foster and Colten Gibson recovered fumbles for the Bearcats, and Eli Ford recovered one for Central.
Foster's recovery gave the Bearcats a golden scoring opportunity, as the senior recovered the ball at the Central 14. However, the Bearcats fumbled on the next play.
Both teams had scoring opportunities in the fourth quarter. The Rebels had a touchdown called back on a penalty. Corcoran connected with Day in the left flat, and Day reversed field and raced 47 yards for what appeared to be a touchdown.
The penalty forced the Rebels to punt, the kick went only 18 yards, and the Bearcats appeared to gain some momentum when Strong broke loose for a 30-yard gain on second down. However, Strong fumbled, and Tanner Friend recovered.
The Bearcats had one last chance with the ball at their own 32 and 1:19 to play. Driskill went 4 for 4 passing on the drive and advanced the Bearcats into Central territory on an 11-yard reception by Nate Gargas. However, time expired following a 4-yard catch by Gargas.