Dixon defeats North Boone in regular-season finale

DIXON – A hot start on Senior Night propelled Dixon to a 62-34 victory over North Boone at A.C. Bowers Field on Friday night.

The Dukes (8-1) scored on their first three possessions, and four of their first five, to jump out to an early lead and never looked back.

[ Photos from Dixon vs. North Boone football ]

Senior running back Aiden Wiseman ran for more than 200 yards and three touchdowns, and senior quarterback Tyler Shaner both ran and passed for more than 100 yards, with three rushing TDs and two scoring strikes – one to senior Cort Jacobson and the other to junior Tyson Dambman.

“In our pregame meeting, our coaches said, ‘All right, we’re going to show we’re a great team or we’re going to show we’re a good team out there,’” Wiseman said. “We showed we were a great team tonight. We just came out strong.”

Here are a few takeaways from the game:

Fast start for Dixon

The Dukes got things rolling from the beginning, scoring four touchdowns in the first 20 minutes of the game. The first two drives were both six plays; the first covered 72 yards and the second traversed 61. Shaner hit Jacobson down the middle for a 40-yard scoring strike to cap the first drive, then ran in from 27 yards out on the next, after three straight Wiseman runs netted 26 yards.

Wiseman capped the next drive with a 1-yard plunge for a 21-0 lead just 8:49 into the game.

“We killed it in the first quarter. The second quarter was kind of slow, but that’s OK. We just need to play a complete game and play a full four quarters of football,” Shaner said. “But tonight on Senior Night, coming out hot and getting 21 [points] in the first quarter, that’s big for us rolling into the playoffs.”

The defense also did its part. Dixon forced three-and-outs on the first two North Boone drives, and the Vikings had minus-5 yards of offense and trailed by three touchdowns.

“We just had to go out there and execute,” senior two-way lineman Tyler Herwig said. “Our defense is really good, and we’re just going to come out there and do our jobs to the fullest extent, and that’s what we did. We wanted to set the tone early, and we stopped them at the start.”

After North Boone (6-3) got on the board with its third possession, Dixon’s D forced a turnover on downs after the offense went three-and-out. The Dukes then took over at their own 45 yard line and got runs of 21 and 11 from Wiseman before Shaner ran in from 8 yards, dodging one would-be tackler and stepping through the arms of another.

“Just our O-line, those boys were working hard up front all night, and our perimeter blocking was key all night, too. We were all fired up,” Wiseman said. “It was our last regular-season game at home – we knew we had to win if we wanted to make sure we play another one at home – so we were just fired up and ready to go tonight. We didn’t know coming in what we were expected to do, but everybody was just ready to go and ready to beat Boone tonight.”

North Boone finds answers

After going backward in their first two drives, the Vikings finally got things going the third time they touched the ball.

Quarterback Jack Christensen threw a pass for 36 yards to Brad Dahl, then ran for 17. An 11-yard pass to RJ Wolski got North Boone in goal-to-go, and Christensen hit Connor McKibben for a 2-yard TD pass to get on the board.

After Dixon grabbed the 28-7 lead, North Boone went on a 10-play, 75-yard drive, and Christensen cut the deficit to 28-14 with a 10-yard jump-ball touchdown pass to Dahl.

The Vikings got one more chance, after Shaner fumbled on a 23-yard run our near midfield. But after an offensive pass interference call put the Vikings in third-and-17, Cullen Shaner intercepted a pass on the final play of the half.

Dixon keeps rolling

After the teams traded punts to open the second half, the Dukes extended their lead. Wiseman sprinted 35 yards for a touchdown to put him over the 100-yard mark, then after Dixon recovered a kickoff that bounced off a North Boone player, Tyler Shaner connected with Dambman on an 11-yard pop pass for a 42-14 lead.

Dixon’s D forced another three-and-out, then after a 34-yard run by Wiseman, Tyler Shaner sprinted in from 17 yards for a 49-14 lead with 2:22 left in the third.

“We were rolling on all cylinders. We missed a few blocks, but that’ll happen; it’s football. We’ll get that figured out for next week in the playoffs,” Tyler Shaner said. “But those guys up front did a great job, props to them. Those three seniors up there – Tyler Herwig, Jaron Hermes and Spencer Thompson – did a great job anchoring the line tonight.”

North Boone scored back-to-back touchdowns early in the fourth, as Christensen connected with Dahl on a 10-yard jump-ball TD on fourth-&-5, then the Vikings recovered an onside kick and scored on the first play with a long pass down the right sideline to get within 49-28.

But Dixon answered with a short touchdown run by Wiseman on the next drive, after his long run set up the Dukes inside the 10-yard line. Then on the second play of the ensuing Vikings drive, Cullen Shaner snared his second interception of the game and returned it for a touchdown and a 62-28 lead.

“If they cut that lead down, we’re going to answer. We’re going to keep rolling, just keep doing what we’re going to do,” Tyler Shaner said. “Our senior class, we just don’t quit. We do everything we can 100%, no matter what.”

Dixon finished with nearly 500 yards of total offense – more than 300 of it on the ground – while North Boone ended up with more than 300, though much of it was after the game was essentially out of reach. The Vikings ran for less than 50 yards, with Christensen doing most of the damage through the air; he had five touchdown passes.

“It’s really good for the offensive line and our confidence going into the playoffs, that we can just absolutely roll over teams,” Herwig said. “That’s what our mindset was going into the game, and we definitely did that tonight.”

Both teams have secured playoff berths, and will find out their first-round opponents Saturday night. For the Dukes, they’re pleased with their final tune-up before the postseason, and are looking to pick up where they left off in what will likely be a home playoff game next weekend.

“We were firing on all cylinders tonight, and I’m just so proud of everyone on this team,” Wiseman said. “I’m glad we could deliver a win like this on Senior Night. And now we’re ready to go for next week.”