CRESWELL – Cade Dimmick’s efforts against Glide on Friday night provided another testament of Creswell’s grit and intestinal fortitude on the football field.
Dimmick had fumbled at the end of a nice run during the first half, as a Wildcats defender pulled the ball free while tackling the junior receiver.
Some players would have sulked, or maybe shied away from wanting the ball.
Not Dimmick. In the third quarter he caught a 23-yard touchdown pass on fourth down from Connor Hanson to put the Bulldogs up 14-6. Then, on the next play from scrimmage, he intercepted Glide (3-1) quarterback Dylan Ackerman, which would lead to another Hanson TD pass, this time for 17 yards to Jack Nguyen to make it 21-6 with 3:40 left in the third quarter.
For that short period of time, Dimmick went from being the goat to the G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time) … at least in his teammates’ eyes, during Creswell’s 28-14 victory.
“One of the things we try to teach, we call it ‘Short-term memory.’ Don’t dwell on your mistakes,” Creswell coach Scott Worsham said. “I have to give Cade a lot of credit. He got up after that fumble, and he didn’t get down on himself. Cade ended up having a pretty good ballgame.”
Hanson also had one of his usual standout performances, going 13-of-19 for 145 and three touchdowns. He ran 20 times for 132 yards – including a 55-yard sprint down the left sideline for the ‘Dogs’ first score, making it 7-6.
The junior has drawn the defense offside five times in the past two weeks by clapping loudly during his snap count.
“That’s a call from the booth from coach (Bob) Nicol. We try to get five yards in situations where we need it,” Worsham said.
Nguyen (5 catches, 86 yards) and Dimmick (5, 50) shared receiving honors for the Bulldogs (3-0), each with a touchdown as well. Hanson’s other TD pass was a 13-yarder to Logan Gordon, who also recorded an interception and a blocked PAT.
But once again, the defensive spotlight remains on junior linebacker Juan Beltran, who continued to dominate the line of scrimmage with 12½ tackles, 1 sack and a tipped pass that he dived for and turned into an interception.
“I never realize until I see the tape how close Juan is to the ball on every play,” Worsham said. “He just has an amazing nose for the ball.”
Fellow inside linebacker Maysen Scovil added 8 tackles as the Bulldogs defense stood tall, yielding only 6 points until the Wildcats scored late.
“Our defense has played well these first three games,” Worsham said. “We had three interceptions and a fumble recovery. I thought the guys did a great job of playing hard-nosed defense.”
Worsham said that even though there was a short week to prepare – because Glide was a Covid-related late replacement for Lowell on Creswell’s schedule – he and his staff knew they needed to stop No. 10, Glide wide receiver Colby Bucich.
“We knew No. 10 was a good player and they liked to throw to him,” Worsham said. “He had long catches in each of the last two games. But we frustrated him.”
Next up for the Bulldogs is a road test against Jefferson on Oct. 1, before they return for their Homecoming game Friday, Oct. 8 against Oakland.
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Pleasant Hill visited Creswell in a 3A league girls soccer game and won 6-0 last week. Sophomore striker Tressa Geyer scored twice, including a curving corner kick. Juniors Paige Schenfeld, Emma Dyemartin, and Maddie Boettcher each scored once and ninth-grader Rian Busby contributed a goal. Senior goalie Stella Hucka had one save.
