BOGUE CHITTO — Friday night’s homecoming game between the BogueChitto Bobcats and the winless Dexter Bulldogs was like night andday. Dexter, which fielded just 14 players, led Bogue Chitto 22-8at halftime and the home crowd was not happy.

The Bobcats came out in the second half with a take-no-prisonersattitude and outscored the Bulldogs 39-7 on their way to a big47-29 Region 4-1A win at Troy Smith Field.

The win improved Bogue Chitto’s region record to 4-1 and overallmark to 4-3. Dexter, coached by Randy Sumrall, fell to 9-7 and0-5.

Bogue Chitto travels to Salem (3-4, 3-2) for another toughregion test Friday night.

“I don’t know where we were in the first half, but we weren’tready to play football” said Bogue Chitto head coach Gareth Sartinfollowing the win. “In the second half, we were a completelydifferent team. The offense and defensive stepped it up in thesecond half.”

Dexter scored its first touchdown at the 7:13 mark in the firstquarter on a long 67-yard pass from quarterback Nathan Brooks toThomas Marx. Mario Miller kicked the extra point for a brief 7-0lead over Bogue Chitto.

The Bobcat answered with a 67-yard drive, capped by a 13-yardrun by quarterback Seth Avants for the touchdown. Byron Kersee ranthe two-point conversion to give the hosts an 8-7 lead with 4:07left.

The Bulldogs got a couple of quick running plays to set up a7-yard plunge by Edward Dillon followed by a Brooks keeper for twopoints and a 15-8 lead.

Dexter tacked on another touchdown at the 9:59 mark in thesecond quarter on a 35-yard pass play from Brooks to Miller. Millerfollowed with an extra-point kick for an 22-8 lead going intohalftime.

“Dexter has some real good athletes,” said Sartin. “They madesome big plays in the first half. Dexter has always been a physicalteam.”

The Bobcats exploded in the third quarter, scoring 24 unansweredpoints on their way to a 32-22 lead. Avants hits Mario Addison on a37-yard pass-play for the first touchdown, Donyea Dillion scored a1-yard TD and Avants found Addison for a 15-yard score. Smith hitAddison for a 2-point conversion, Avants and Dillion ran for2-point conversions.

In the fourth quarter, Bogue Chitto scored two more touchdownsto push the lead to 47-22. Kersee scored from 4-yardd deep andRobert Anderson exploded for a 55-yard scramble for the finalscore. Avants hit Addison for a 2-point conversion followed by aPAT kick by Fred Tillman with 1:37 left.

Dexter scored one more TD with 1:29 left on a 65-yard halfbackpass from Miller to Marx. Miller kicked the PAT cutting the deficitto 47-29.

“In the second half, we found a way to win,” said Sartin. “Ihope we learned a lesson tonight.”

On the night, Bogue Chitto finished with 16 rushes for 388yards.

Powering the Bobcats was Kersee with 14 carries for 144 yards.Dillon rushed 10 times for 78 yards. Avants rushed seven times for29 yards. Making three carries for 60 yards was Anderson. Addisonrushed once for 37 yards.

Avants completed 7 of 15 passes for 122 yards. Addison caughtsix passes for 75 yards. Collecting two passes for 37 yards wasKeyouna Perkins. Dontae Ratcliff had a catch for 10 yards.

Defensively, linebacker Scotty Brown led with 17tackles. Making 10 stops was Anderson. Tillman finished with eighttackles. Recording a sack apiece were Matthew Magee, Robert Lewisand Cole Laird.