Dickinson gets away from Ridge Point
Dickinson running back Ausaru Allah (8) tries to escape the clutches of Ridge Point defensive back Joseph Ceasar during Friday night’s game at Sam Vitanza Stadium. Dickinson, the eighth-ranked Class 6A team in the area, defeated No. 12 Ridge Point 38-21.
DICKINSON — Dickinson coach John Snelson has options.
With the Gators needing to replace graduated quarterback Mike Welch, who’s now suiting up at Houston, Snelson took a look at two candidates — and Marlon Allen and Graham Ledbetter both created compelling cases.
The two QBs each threw a pair of first-half touchdowns, and tight end Jathan Caldwell collected the first three TDs, sending area 6A No. 8 Dickinson to a 38-21 victory against No. 12 Ridge Point on Friday at Sam Vitanza Stadium.
“Both of them are doing a really good job,” Snelson said. “It’s really dang hard for us to make a decision, and if we’ve got two really good ones, heck, we’ll play them both.”
Dickinson (1-0) and Ridge Point (0-1) traded blows in an explosive first quarter, which ended tied.
The Gators struck first, with Allen leading a 10-play, 75-yard drive capped by his 12-yard scoring throw to Caldwell. But Ridge Point’s responses was impressive — a seven-play, 72-yard march that took less than 2 minutes and ended in wide receiver Marvin Session’s nine-yard run inside just the left pylon, tying it 7-7.
Then the Panthers briefly pulled ahead.
After Dickinson punted, they returned to the end zone on another quick-strike drive, with WR John Paul Richardson hauling in a deep ball from QB B. J. Emanuel for a 40-yard touchdown and 14-7 edge. But the Gators evened it a minute later on a 14-yard grab by Caldwell with 45 seconds to go in the first quarter.
“We don’t have a lot of Friday night experience, and so I was really proud of them for being focused, not getting too high and not getting too low,” Snelson said.
They pulled away in the second quarter.
Caldwell, who caught TDs from Allen and Ledbetter in the first quarter, snared a 33-yard scoring reception on another Allen pass, giving the Gators a 21-14 lead with 9:08 left in the first half — and they led the rest of theway.
Caldwell, who has at least 15 college offers, finished with four catches for 79 yards and two carries for 15 yards — and he’s actually the No. 2 tight end on the roster, because Donovan Green — who already boasts 44 offers — is the top-rated junior in the country. But he finished without a catch in the season opener.
“Obviously their plan was to take away Donovan Green … but we’ve got other weapons, and the quarterbacks did a good job of finding him, and Jathan’s a talented kid, too,” Snelson said. “We’re lucky to have two really good ones.”
Ledbetter added a 40-yard TD strike to Jarell Simpson for a 28-14 halftime lead.
Ridge Point pulled within 28-21 on a 15-yard TD run by Keith Jackson on its opening drive of the second half. But Dickinson answered with a 32-yard Juan Moreno field goal, then put the game away with power football down the stretch. RB Ausaru Allah’s 12yard TD run with 2:49 left in the fourth sealed the win.
“We’re a tempo team,” Snelson said. “We’re at our best when we’re moving fast. But when we get a lead there late, we also have to work on some 4-minute offense, and put the dang ball in the hands of our running backs, tight ends and h-backs, and lean on our offensive line, and they did a really good job.”
Dickinson finished with 497 yards and 24 first downs.
Allah had 100 yards and one score on18 carries, Allen finished 9 of 17 passing for 180 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, and Ledbetter was 5 of 11 passing for 112 yards with two touchdowns.
“We’re going to let the (QB) competition play out of the field,” Snelson said. “Both of them do some things well, and both of them have things they need to work on, but they have a great relationship with each other, and they’re such good teammates. If they weren’t good teammates, we couldn’t do something like that.”