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Siler leads Bulldogs past Dolphins (Photo gallery)
No one will be more disappointed that Thursday’s Kickoff Classic game against Gulf Breeze doesn’t officially count than Crestview running back Jerry Siler.
All Siler did in two quarters of varsity work was run for 162 yards on eight carries, including a handful of spectacular runs. The rest of the Bulldogs still showed the expected early-season rust, however, as the Bulldog varsity held on for a 13-7 victory over the Dolphins.
In the first half, the Crestview junior varsity team lost 3-0 on a field goal by Gulf Breeze’s Chandler Foxworth.
Siler scored the first touchdown of the varsity half on an 82-yard touchdown run on the Bulldogs’ second possession with 6:19 to play in the third quarter. He simply took a handoff between the left tackle and guard, and then turned on the burners to reach the end zone untouched.
He added runs of 11 and 35 yards later in the third, with the latter of those runs setting up sophomore Micah Reed’s 9-yard touchdown run.
Although it’s highly unlikely Siler will continue to average over 20 yards per carry when the curtain goes up on the regular season next week against Baker, the running game showed signs of being Crestview’s offensive identity.
“I’ll have to look at film, but it seemed like our offensive line opened up some big holes,” Crestview coach Matt Brunson said. “I’ll take Jerry Siler rushing for 200 yards in a half any day.”
As a team, the Bulldogs piled up 266 rushing yards, while the passing game struggled to find a rhythm. Starting quarterback Garrett Teal failed to complete a pass in four attempts, and sophomore backup Dakota Dean threw an interception with no completions.
Defensively, the Bulldogs look to be on their way. The Bulldogs held the Dolphins to under 170 yards of total offense and delivered several hard hits.
The Dolphins’ only offensive success came on misdirection plays like screens and counter runs. Their lone touchdown came on a middle screen pass from quarterback Michael Mann to receiver Eric Adams, who took the dump-off 44 yards for a touchdown.
Other than that, the Dolphins’ longest play from scrimmage was a 14-yard pass late in the fourth quarter.
With cross-town rival Baker on the schedule to open the season next Friday, Brunson believes the Bulldogs still have some shaping up to do.
“We have got to keep working to get into condition,” Brunson said. “We only played a half. Next week it’s four quarters.”
