ORANGE — Zack Dickison has always been the smallest player on his football teams, dating as far back as Pop Warner.
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He’s learned to use his size to his advantage, however, and did so again Friday night when he rushed for 197 yards and two touchdowns to help Pacifica to a 27-0 win against Canyon at El Modena High.
“Be low, run low, try and run through someone,” Dickison said after the Mariners improved to 3-0 this season.
Listed at 5-foot-6, 155 pounds, Dickison scored a touchdown in the season-opening win, 27-7, against Beckman, and the senior scored a school record five touchdowns in a 48-0 win over Garden Grove last week.
“He’s an old-school ball player,” Pacifica coach Kyle Murphy said.
Dickison also continues to make his presence known on defense, knocking down two passes on blitzes on the opening series of the game Friday, and sacking Canyon quarterback Kayden Phillips later in the first half.
Dickison said his deflections were the result of a trend the Mariners picked up on film.
“We realized that blitzing, (Phillips) throws it low,” Dickison said. “We saw it on film and we trusted the film and went with it.”
Dickison has been playing for Murphy since he was a sophomore and competing on the wrestling team as well. Dickison wrestled in the 132-pound division last season.
Going up against football players who weigh twice as much doesn’t intimidate Dickison.
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“You just learn to adapt. Realize, if you’re not the tallest, you’ve got to use your advantages,” Dickison said. “That’s what it boils down to.”
Dickison’s first big play against the Cobras came on a 30-yard run on third-and-1 early in the second quarter, getting the Mariners across midfield where they would eventually score on a 6-yard run by Michael McGuigan for a 7-0 lead with 9:27 left in the first half.
That score remained until halftime.
Dickison began to heat up coming out of the break, picking up gains of 16 and 43 yards on the opening drive of the third quarter, which set up McGuigan’s 4-yard touchdown run for a 14-0 lead.
Dickison shook off a tackler on his way to a 20-yard touchdown run that made it 21-0 with 10:54 left in the game, and then tacked on a 29-yard touchdown run with 5:29 remaining.
“It’s hard knowing you’re not the biggest , but also it can be a blessing,” Dickison said. “You’ve got to run low, trust your blocking and just pop out in random holes where they can’t see you.”
The Cobras (2-0) were trying to start 3-0 under first-year coach Vinnie Lopez, who previously coached at Pacific from 2016-22, and still teaches and coaches track there.
They were without their best player, middle linebacker and running back James Munro, who sustained what’s believed to be a bone bruise to his knee late in a 19-0 win against Rancho Verde last week.
“He doesn’t miss his tackles,” Lopez said of Munro. “We had too many missed tackles tonight, and then offensively we didn’t put enough together. We just couldn’t get out of our own way.”
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