District 12-5A Division II better take note of Crockett quarterback Cameron Dickey.
A week after his eight-touchdown performance against LASA, he was just as prolific on Thursday night against Navarro.
The junior rushed for 200 yards and four touchdowns, while adding another 148 yards and a touchdown through the air in a commanding 49-13 victory. The win improves Crockett to 3-3 on the season and 2-1 in district play.
Thursday Finals!
Crockett 49, Navarro 13
Crockett’s best two game scoring output (63 & 49) in the last 33 years, beating scoring 49 & 61 in back to back games in 2018— Mike Barnes (@MikeBarnesMedia) October 7, 2022
Dickey is a three-year varsity letterman, but he caught Crockett head coach Darrick Norton’s eye before he even stepped foot onto the
Crockett campus.
“I saw him as an eighth grader at Bedichek [Middle School], and I was like ‘who’s that kid, is he coming to Crockett?’” Norton said. “As soon as he played [at Crockett], I knew he was special when he had a 24-tackle game against McCallum in 2020 {his freshman year].”
After the graduation of Michael Newton last year, Norton said Dickey has comfortably settled into the role as the starting quarterback for the Cougars.
“He got some reps at quarterback last year, but this is now his team and it’s his time to shine,” Norton said. “He can kill you with his arm, kill you with his feet. It’s ridiculous. He’ll roll out to his right and throw from the 50 and it’ll end up in the end zone. I’m like, ‘how do you do that?’ He’s a special kid.”
On the other side of the field, Navarro was looking to continue the momentum it earned from its 44-6 victory over Eastside a week ago, a win that snapped the program’s 14-game losing streak.
Unfortunately for the Vikings, it was anything but smooth sailing on Thursday night as they fell to 1-5 on the season and 1-2 in district.
“We just didn’t do what we were practicing to do,” Navarro head coach Sebastian Velasquez said. “We preached that it was going to be a dogfight; we had a good game plan, but Crockett came out to play tonight and we didn’t. Simple as that.”
The Cougars were in control of proceedings from the very beginning.
Dickey and the Crockett offense lines up for a play on Thursday. (Credit: Leal Anderson)
They needed just 53 seconds to find the end zone as junior running back Chris Giles broke free for a 56-yard touchdown run.
After that opening score, Dickey took over on the Cougars’ next two drives as he slipped free for a 36-yard touchdown run before adding a one-yard score to put Crockett up 20-0 in the first quarter.
Navarro attempted to climb back into the game with a 12-play, 62-yard drive capped off by a eight yard touchdown pass from running back Marcus Dennis to Christopher Morris on a trick play.
And the tide seemed to be turning even more after the Vikings defense came up with an interception on the very next drive.
However, a bad snap on a punt followed by a three-yard touchdown run by Giles for Crockett quickly foiled those comeback plans and gave Crockett a 26-7 halftime advantage.
In the second half, Crockett was just as dominant, scoring on all four of its possession.
Dickey had touchdown runs of 18 and 28 yards on the first two drives of the half. Then after the Crockett special teams forced a fumble on a kickoff, Dickey added yet another score, connecting with a wide-open Giles for a 31-yard touchdown.
That touchdown capped off a wildly efficient night for Giles where he scored all three times he touched the ball on the offense.
In the final acts of the night, Navarro quarterback Bryan Nieto found paydirt on a quarterback sneak before Crockett kicker Eric Arvizu put a bow on proceedings with a 33-yard field goal.
Looking ahead, the road doesn’t get any easier for Navarro after its tough defeat on Thursday. Coming up next on its schedule are district heavyweights Austin LBJ and McCallum.
Velasquez said he knows exactly what his team will be working on in practice as they prepare for those two matchups.
“We’re staying positive, but the key of the week for us is get physical,” Velasquez said. “These next two teams are going to be very good caliber teams, so we’re going to have to get physical with them.”
Meanwhile, on the other sideline, Norton said his team won’t need to be told how important their next game is as the Cougars will take on Travis for the Kings of the South Crown next Friday.
A year ago, Travis knocked off Crockett 44-40, keeping them out of the playoffs for the fourth year in a row.
This year, Crockett wants to make sure it restores itself as the “King of South Austin.”
“We should’ve beat them last year, and we lost our crown, so that’s been our battle cry the past 12 months, ‘we want our crown back,’” Norton said. “There’s plenty of internal energy amongst the boys. I don’t need to say much. I just need to make sure it’s focused in a positive direction.”
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