DEXTER – To say it’s been a long time coming is an understatement for Dexter’s football team.
Just three years ago, the Dreadnaughts were 0-9 for the fourth year in a row and didn’t snap a 42-game losing streak until Week 2 of the 2018 season.
Through all the adversity the program faced, it all came to an end Friday night when the Dreadnaughts topped rival Ypsilanti Lincoln 56-28 to win the program’s first playoff game in school history.
“It’s a well-deserved honor for our kids,” Dexter coach Phil Jacobs told MLive in a phone interview. “Since we got here, they’ve hung on every word that we’ve said. Our coaching staff did a good job of preparing our kids to play and they executed the game plan pretty well. It feels good. I’m so proud for our kids and our school.”
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Under coach Jacobs' guidance and led by star quarterback Colin Parachek, Dexter went from a doormat team to 6-4 in Year 1 to 8-2 last season and now 5-2 with a trip to the Division 2 district semifinal round up next.
The Dreadnaughts suffered heartbreaking playoff defeats the past two years, losing in overtime in 2018 and falling 41-39 last year to Livonia Churchill, who they will meet again next week.
“We came so close the last two years losing in overtime and then by 2-points last year,” Jacobs said. “Heartbreakers where you’re right there and you can taste it, you can feel it and you can’t quite get it.
"It’s nice to get over that hump. Our kids found out that if you work a little harder, you listen to coaching and execute the game plan, good things will happen.”
The Dreadnaughts defeated Lincoln 49-19 in the regular season but the Railsplitters made this win much more difficult for Dexter.
Colin Parachek opened the game with a touchdown run followed by a TD run from Cole Cabana to put Dexter ahead 14-0 in the first quarter.
After Lincoln answered to close the gap to 14-7 after the first quarter, Parachek hit Cabana for a TD pass pushing Dexter’s lead back to 14 points.
But Lincoln continued to push and closed the deficit to 28-21 by halftime before Dexter’s offense pulled away in the second half, outscoring Lincoln 28-7 to clinch the historic win. The Railsplitters finished the year at 3-4.
With the monkey finally off its back, Dexter will now try to move a step closer to a district title game with the rematch against Churchill.
“Our kids were wound up today. They felt a lot of pressure and they came out and responded," Jacobs said. "Now, we’ve got a revenge game next week up at Churchill and we’ll see what we can do. We’re looking forward to practice on Monday and getting after it.”
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