Ricky Dixon's four touchdowns fuel Lutheran North's Metro League win at MICDS
Lutheran North senior running back Ricky Dixon
By Nate Latsch
LADUE – Kyle Wagner said his Lutheran North football team had an identity crisis at the beginning of the season.
The Crusaders no longer have such an issue after Saturday afternoon’s impressive 34-18 victory at MICDS, where running back Ricky Dixon and North’s big, strong and physical offensive line made the difference.
“We had an identity crisis at the beginning of the year,” Wagner said. “We came out, we were throwing the ball all over the place. We realized that we’re pretty big up front and we’ve got great running backs, three of them that are pretty good and Ricky Dixon especially.”
Dixon ran the ball 31 times for 230 yards and four touchdowns – two in the second quarter and two in the second half – while Lutheran North racked up 347 yards on the ground with 47 carries. The Crusaders attempted just three passes and completed all three for 73 yards.
A 5-foot-9, 178-pound senior, Dixon suffered an injury after rushing for 119 yards and a touchdown in the season-opening win over Hazelwood Central.
He missed the next two games – losses against undefeated Blair Oaks and Francis Howell – but has returned stronger than ever, rushing for 533 yards and scoring 13 touchdowns in three games. He has 10 touchdowns the past two games.
“Obviously I wish we had him a little more, but I was glad we had him today,” Wagner said. “He’s worked for it. He’s earned it. He’s a great player off the field the way he handles his business and it always translates – and I tell that to my guys, the way you are off the field always translates to on the field. He’s hard-nosed outside of this and handles his business and he handled his business on the field today.”
Earlier in the week Wagner said getting Dixon back healthy has been key because he calms everyone with his presence and allows the Crusaders to play the physical brand of football they pride themselves on.
Dixon was asked what those words from his coach mean to him.
“It means a lot,” he said. “It means that he trusts me, and I love that. It means he trusts me with the whole team. It means I’m a big part of this team.”
There’s certainly no doubt about that. Dixon’s return and strong play has helped turn around a 1-2 start to the season.
Now Lutheran North has a three-game win streak, is 4-2 overall and finished its Metro League schedule with a perfect 3-0 mark.
“This win says a lot about us,” Dixon said. “It says we don’t give up. All the adversity we had to fight through, the penalties, fumbles, which I had one myself – my team kept me up, which is what I love about this team, we don’t get down on each other. They hold me up, they know I made plays in the end, we all did.”
The No. 9 team in the SBLive Missouri Power 25 rankings, MICDS fell to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in league play with its first regular-season loss since Oct. 18, 2019.
The Rams gained 242 total yards (135 rushing, 107 passing) against Lutheran North and threw two interceptions.
Steve Hall had 105 total yards, including 91 rushing on 15 carries. Winston Moore had 103 total yards, including 63 receiving, and a touchdown.
MICDS coach Fred Bouchard praised Wagner and the Lutheran North coaching staff for having the Crusaders well prepared.
“They exposed some things that we have to go work on because other teams will see this and they are going to go do those things,” Bouchard said. “We have to demand ourselves to get better about how we support the run and how we’re able to step up and how we’re defending those kind of things.”
The Rams had won 17 of their previous 18 games dating back to the start of the 2021 season and won 24 of 26 going back to when Bouchard took over in 2020.
“The perspective is, yeah, we hate to lose any game when they are keeping score, but frankly this is Week 6 in the season and we’ve got a little time in front of us before the November brackets start coming out and you start playing in districts,” he said.
Lutheran North at MICDS football
