Dickerson runs for all five of Gretna's TDs against Dan River

GRETNA — Gretna running back Andre Dickerson rushed for career highs of 219 yards and five touchdowns as Dan River could never find an answer for the fleet-of-foot running back in the Hawks’ 33-20 Dogwood District victory Friday night.

“Give it up to the line because they did an awesome job tonight,” Dickerson said. “They gave me looks and the wide receivers out there blocking gave me looks also and all I did was use some speed to get to the outside and take it down the sideline.”

Dickerson rushed for 138 yards and three touchdowns on eight carries in the second quarter, which gave Gretna (6-1, 3-0 Dogwood) a 20-12 lead heading into halftime.

Dickerson’s first touchdown run — from 56 yards out — was set up by a Dan River roughing the passer penalty after Nick Miller threw an incomplete pass on third down. Dickerson bounced it to the outside and outran the Wildcats’ secondary.

Kevin Eldridge responded with an 84-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, closing the gap to 7-6 after the extra point was botched.

The teams exchanged touchdowns, as Dickerson scored twice on the next two Gretna possessions and Trey Edmunds scored from 11 yards out for Dan River (5-3, 2-2 Dogwood). Edmunds had a team-high 67 yards rushing on 14 attempts.

“He had a heck of a game today. They ran the option, they ran it well,” Dan River coach Ferrell Edmunds said of Dickerson’s performance. “They read our ends and just gassed us. I felt like we made some adjustments, but we gave up the big play. … They came out and ran the option with Miller and Dickerson. It’s hard to stop good execution. They executed real well. It’s just a tough loss.”

At the beginning of the third quarter, Dan River forced Gretna into a three-and-out on the opening possession. Joe McGhee’s punt was caught in the wind and landed for a 12-yard net at the Wildcats’ 32-yard line, but Dan River’s Deon Hairston tried to pounce on the ball and lost control, allowing Gretna’ Everett Witcher to corral the loose ball and give it back to the Hawks.

Gretna was forced to punt again, but Dan River had to settle for the ball at their own 20. On the next possession, Ezander Shelton fumbled the ball, which was eventually recovered by Gretna’s Ted Jennings at the Dan River 10-yard line. Dickerson scored on the next play, giving the Hawks a 27-12 cushion.

“Once he gets past that second level, ain’t no catching him. He’s lightning quick. It was important to try to stop him at the line and we just didn’t get that done,” Dan River senior linebacker R.J. Myers said. “There was a lot of chop blocking going on. Getting us to go down in and then bouncing back out with the speed they had, it was easy to beat our corners.”

Myers finished with a team-high 13 tackles and added a 37-yard touchdown run with 9:51 left in the fourth quarter to finish off the scoring.

The Wildcats rushed for 186 yards on 37 attempts and the passing game never really got off the ground. Justin Gunter completed two passes for 12 yards and threw two interceptions. As a team, Dan River committed six turnovers.

Dickerson’s fifth touchdown run came on the opening play of the fourth quarter when he bounced it to the left side and was able to stay out of Myers’ grasp for a 19-yard scamper that accounted for the Hawks’ final score.

“It was good to set the tempo because the Dogwood District comes through us,” Dickerson said. “The tempo going to keep going on and on until we get to the playoffs.”

The Hawks’ passing attack never really had to take off thanks to Dickerson’s legs. Miller completed 3 of 12 passes for 47 yards and the junior quarterback also tossed two interceptions. Miller added 64 yards on the ground, including a 19-yard run that set up Dickerson’s fourth-quarter touchdown.

“It was a great night for Urkel,” Gretna coach Kevin Saunders said, referring to Dickerson by his nickname. “I thought the offensive line did a great job. He’s run the ball well, really the last two games. Nick does a good job of reading that.”