By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
ADAIR VILLAGE, Ore. –The Dayton Pirates, for the second time in three years, have defeated Santiam Christian. And once again on the road as they did when they defeated the Eagles 22-7 on October 13, 2023.
It wasn’t the prettiest of games. Nevertheless, Dayton locked in and did what they had to do to walk out of Adair Village with a 23-17 victory.
“It was gritty man, it wasn’t pretty. It was tough. It was (Stephen) Macias carrying us with our O-Line opening some holes and we were like ‘we’re bigger and stronger right now’ and we did what we did to win a football game,” said Dayton Head Coach Jacob Peterson. “I’m really proud of the guys today. They had to do what they had to do. It wasn’t always pretty, but a win is a win.”
Macias was the engine that Dayton needed. 31 carries that he had, collecting 272 yards to keep the Pirates offense rolling in the win that featured a ten minute drive in the first quarter that eventually set up an Asher Maxwell 18-yard score. Macias didn’t score, but he didn’t need to as Maxwell and two Ryan Mullins passing scores helped Dayton cross the finish line on those important drives that needed scores.
“It means the world. We’ve been out here since May 31st working. We knew that this team could do something special, and it meant the world right now,” said Macias. “This win means a lot. It puts us in a position to win league.”
Their defense supported their offense. It was actually their defense that led into their offense points Quarterback Ryan Mullins. And outside of two big explosive plays and a few miscues defensively, the Pirates held the Eagles explosive offense that was scoring 36 points a game to 17 points total. It was Santiam Christian’s second lowest total of the season outside of their season opening game against Banks when they were held to 14.
“We fly around. We make big hits and make big plays when we need them the most. Our offense can generate off that defense,” said Mullins, who was 3-for-3 for 44 yards and rushed for 46 yards on eight carries.
And it was that defense that ultimately helped Dayton clinched the victory down the stretch. On fourth and five, 3:19 left in the game, the Eagles were looking to convert and continue their promising drive alive, but that was when Taylr Miller came in. The junior Defensive Back read the play perfectly and went for the safe decision of batting down the pass instead of trying to intercept it that ultimately led to Dayton taking over on downs as they burnt out the final three-plus minutes of the game.
“I was thinking about picking it, but I didn’t want to risk it, so I went out and batted it down,” said Miller. “We gave it our all. We decided to give it our all this year and try to win it.”
It’s just that mindset of going out to dominate, trusting each other, and playing football. And with a short week, with Blanchet on the horizon, the Pirates will look to continue this momentum train sitting 7-0 on the year and not letting any kind of let-down happen with two weeks left in the regular season.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
