Dickerson, Easton rush past Bucs

STEVENSVILLE — Trent Jackson was impressed by what he saw from Easton High senior Ja’Zir Dickerson on film.

Kent Island’s first-year head football coach may have been even more impressed after watching Dickerson in person last Friday.

Dickerson carried eight times for a season-high 169 yards, which included touchdown runs of 72 and 77 yards, and returned an interception 101 yards for another score Friday night, as the Warriors routed the Buccaneers, 49-7, at Andy Schipul Stadium to remain undefeated.

“He’s a talented player,” Jackson said of Dickerson. “He showed a lot of things on film and he proved his worth. He’s a dude.

“They’ve done a nice job distributing the ball to their guys so far this year,” Jackson added of Easton, which improved to 3-0. “I thought he was the one that was due for a game at some point. They had a nice plan and they did a nice job getting him the ball.”

On the game’s first play from scrimmage, Dickerson slanted through the right side of the line and raced 72 yards untouched for a touchdown. Jax Michaluk tacked on the first of his seven extra-point kicks for a 7-0 Warrior lead 18 seconds into the game.

“The linemen blocked their behinds off,” Dickerson said. “We preached to them in practice, ‘just give me a hole.’ Even the slots. They held their blocks and gave me a crease. And all I need is a little crease and I’m going to get going.”

Easton scored on four of its first five possessions in the game.

The Warriors stretched their lead to 14-0 the second time they had the ball, as senior quarterback Brady Walls (6 of 8, 115 yards, two touchdowns) hit a wide open JaDereon Thompson, who juked a defender on the way to finishing a 40-yard scoring play with a little over 5 minutes left in the first half.

Easton’s third possession ended with a punt, but Warrior inside linebacker Jordan Horsey intercepted Kent Island quarterback Colton Starling and rumbled 30 yards for a touchdown and a 21-0 lead less than 2 minutes into the second quarter.

The Buccaneers (1-2) struggled against Easton’s defense and punted for a third time in four possessions. Dickerson again found a crease on the right side and this time cruised 77 yards for a touchdown and a 28-0 lead.

Kent Island was on the verge of forcing Easton’s second punt of the first half. But on third-and-20, Walls launched a 54-yard touchdown pass to Chad Stanley, who made an outstanding grab despite good coverage by Kent Island for a 35-0 lead with 4:59 left in the first half.

The Bucs avoided being shut out for a second straight week, when Jonathan Pauley scored on a 1-yard run with 5:43 left in the third quarter. Kevin Coe converted the extra point.

After an Easton three-and-out, Kent Island drove from its 26 to the Warriors 12. But on third-and-goal, Dickerson intercepted Starlings one yard deep in the end zone and raced 101 yards up his team’s sideline for a touchdown and a 42-7 lead.

“I was just thinking about getting in the end zone, get some other guys in the game,” Dickerson answered when asked if he thought about taking a knee in the end zone after the pick. “I just thought, get in the end zone one last time so my (other) guys can get there, too. Share the wealth.”

Dickerson returned a punt 32 yards that set up Tre Henry’s 10-yard touchdown run with under 2 minutes left on the running clock for the 49-7 final.

“We were good on specials,” Easton head coach Matt Griffith said of his special teams play. “We had one bad series on defense. And we had one bad series on offense. Kudos to the team. They responded ‘cause Kent Island again, very well coached. Good football team. They scored. They stopped us. And then their driving and we had to make a play to get out of it. Again proud of the way they played. The unit as a whole were really focused this week. They did everything we asked them to do.”

Dickerson agreed.

“Shout out goes to the whole team,” Dickerson said. “O-line for blocking, slots for blocking; wide receivers. Everybody just doing their assignments.”