Dixon took care of business in their home opener (barely) on Friday. They skirted past the Topsail Pirates 42-40. For the Bulldogs, this counts as revenge for the 59-18 victory the Pirates walked away with the last time they faced one another back in August of 2024.
JJ Gulat
| 08/22/25 vs Topsail | 286 |
| 09/06/24 vs South Lenoir | 279 |
| 10/04/24 @ West Carteret | 266 |
| 10/25/24 vs Croatan | 255 |
| 10/11/24 vs Swansboro | 201 |
JJ Gulat was nothing short of spectacular: he rushed for 286 yards and three TDs while picking up 11.4 yards per carry. Those 286 rushing yards gave him a new career-high. Another rusher making a difference was Sean Delaney, who rushed for 101 yards and a pair of scores on only eight carries.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Dixon was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 419 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 162 rushing yards in 11 consecutive contests dating back to last season.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Dixon's defensive line and their five sacks. Hunter Talley was especially locked on to Topsail's QB and sacked him twice. Dixon got some further help from Keoni Terukina: he picked up a sack and made 14 total tackles.
Topsail lost despite a true team effort on offense. The best among them was Damarion Smith, who rushed for 80 yards and two touchdowns on only six carries. His longest rush was for an impressive 60 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total. Ben McCaleb was another key player, rushing for 122 yards and one TD while picking up 7.6 yards per carry.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Dixon is headed away from home for the first time to square off against Beddingfield at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. As for Topsail, they will face off against Croatan at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
