Dixon High School football...
- Thread starter msc117
- Start date
Traditionally an under achiever in football. Good at times in baseball. An absolutely great area, but in no way noteworthy sports wise. Been a while since I lived in that area. Hopefully, someone has a more recent update. Good luck, loved it in eastern NC!
Family and work reasons. I have a second home there, so I get back often. Good luck to your son.
Dixon is a great area with some of the best academics in Onslow County across the board typically finishing in the top 3 in almost every academic area each year. They have a great principal who is in his third year that supports academics and athletics equally.
Football has had it's challenges and is not really known for it. Part of the problem is turnover at head coach. They hired a guy from KY who finished his second season this past fall. He is doing wonders with the football program. He got the weight room modernized with power racks and is starting to change the culture. It's still going to take some time but moving into a new conference next year will help. Spending the last four years in the East Central was very tough as it is a very good conference. But Dixon has had some success in the ECC. The 2016 season they did beat Southwest for the first time in 20 - 30 years. But realistically they are not on the same level as the other teams but new coach and new conference things should be changing for the good.
Volleyball won the conference this past fall and is typically 2nd to 4th in conference each year. They've had the same coach for several years and she does a great job.
Men's soccer is always at the top in the area. The guy who coached forever retired before the start of last season and a young guy took his place. In his first year he had them in contention for the conference championship and made it to the 2nd or 3rd round. The new guy is really starting to focus on weight room conditioning to hopefully get over the hump.
Women's Tennis they flat out dominate. They won the conference 3 out of last 4 years and get few rounds into the playoffs until they play the Math and Science type schools.
Cross Country is competitive. Women's has been better the past few years than men's but they send several kids to state meet each year on both sides
Men's basketball needs some work. Typically not very good but they had a DI recruit who is playing at UNCW but even with him they finished .500. This year they have one win and haven't had a lot of chances at wins. There is a new coach this year and he's had past success at other schools but if he sticks it out or if he steps down whoever has their work cut out for them. Similar to football they need a coach to stick around plus the easier conference will help some.
Women's basketball is an average program. They will finish 3rd to 4th in conference that is very tough with Northside in it. They have had the same head coach for about 10 years now.
Wrestling is very good. Until this year it was either Dixon or Croatan in the team state championship for the east. Both programs run into a very tough Newton Conover in the state championship. They had an individual state champion two years ago. Whoever wins between Croatan and Dixon win the conference and in the new conference it will be the same way. Not much will change for this bunch
Winter Track was created 3 years ago and it's not bad. The coach is the women's soccer coach so he's able to get the soccer kids out which help.
Baseball has had a slight downturn past couple of years but could be on an upswing. In 2012 they made it to the final four and 2011 they played for a state championship. In 2011 they had a kid drafted by the Yankees but they have sent a couple of kids to college. A senior this year has committed to Brunswick CC. The head coach has been around for many years but he's saying he's retiring after this year.
Softball has a 2nd year coach this spring who is also the women's basketball coach. They competed for the conference last year with mostly freshmen and sophomores but tailed off at the end and finished 3rd in the conference (maybe 2nd). They should be pretty good this year as they are now sophomores and juniors but everything still goes through East Duplin
Women's soccer is very similar to men's soccer. They have won several conferences over past few years and made deep runs into the state playoffs. Coach has been there for several years and doesn't look to be leaving.
Spring Track is almost identical to winter track.
Men's golf is going to finish in the middle of the pack.
It truly is a great school and it's had athletic success with the potential to having more with a conference that fits them better.
Football has had it's challenges and is not really known for it. Part of the problem is turnover at head coach. They hired a guy from KY who finished his second season this past fall. He is doing wonders with the football program. He got the weight room modernized with power racks and is starting to change the culture. It's still going to take some time but moving into a new conference next year will help. Spending the last four years in the East Central was very tough as it is a very good conference. But Dixon has had some success in the ECC. The 2016 season they did beat Southwest for the first time in 20 - 30 years. But realistically they are not on the same level as the other teams but new coach and new conference things should be changing for the good.
Volleyball won the conference this past fall and is typically 2nd to 4th in conference each year. They've had the same coach for several years and she does a great job.
Men's soccer is always at the top in the area. The guy who coached forever retired before the start of last season and a young guy took his place. In his first year he had them in contention for the conference championship and made it to the 2nd or 3rd round. The new guy is really starting to focus on weight room conditioning to hopefully get over the hump.
Women's Tennis they flat out dominate. They won the conference 3 out of last 4 years and get few rounds into the playoffs until they play the Math and Science type schools.
Cross Country is competitive. Women's has been better the past few years than men's but they send several kids to state meet each year on both sides
Men's basketball needs some work. Typically not very good but they had a DI recruit who is playing at UNCW but even with him they finished .500. This year they have one win and haven't had a lot of chances at wins. There is a new coach this year and he's had past success at other schools but if he sticks it out or if he steps down whoever has their work cut out for them. Similar to football they need a coach to stick around plus the easier conference will help some.
Women's basketball is an average program. They will finish 3rd to 4th in conference that is very tough with Northside in it. They have had the same head coach for about 10 years now.
Wrestling is very good. Until this year it was either Dixon or Croatan in the team state championship for the east. Both programs run into a very tough Newton Conover in the state championship. They had an individual state champion two years ago. Whoever wins between Croatan and Dixon win the conference and in the new conference it will be the same way. Not much will change for this bunch
Winter Track was created 3 years ago and it's not bad. The coach is the women's soccer coach so he's able to get the soccer kids out which help.
Baseball has had a slight downturn past couple of years but could be on an upswing. In 2012 they made it to the final four and 2011 they played for a state championship. In 2011 they had a kid drafted by the Yankees but they have sent a couple of kids to college. A senior this year has committed to Brunswick CC. The head coach has been around for many years but he's saying he's retiring after this year.
Softball has a 2nd year coach this spring who is also the women's basketball coach. They competed for the conference last year with mostly freshmen and sophomores but tailed off at the end and finished 3rd in the conference (maybe 2nd). They should be pretty good this year as they are now sophomores and juniors but everything still goes through East Duplin
Women's soccer is very similar to men's soccer. They have won several conferences over past few years and made deep runs into the state playoffs. Coach has been there for several years and doesn't look to be leaving.
Spring Track is almost identical to winter track.
Men's golf is going to finish in the middle of the pack.
It truly is a great school and it's had athletic success with the potential to having more with a conference that fits them better.
Thanks DRWTS,, my son wrestled for N-C until this past year....his grades started slipping so we made him focus more on school....I was there when Newton beat Dixon for the title...fell in love with the area down there and had a chance at more money so my wife and I thought this would be the best time to move...glad to see they are putting money into the school system there and building new schools....I am excited to see a lot of the top teams in the east in football....Clinton,Wallace Rose Hill,Northside and Southwest Onslow...Do a little scouting for my Shelby friends...lol
Just make sure you spend a lot of time on the other side of Jacksonville.Swansboro,Emerald Isle,Morehead City and Beaufort all will lead to good times.
Move 15 miles south in Hampstead and you will be in Topsail School district. Far superior to Dixon in academics and athletics.
I don't know if I would say far superior. I do know this at Dixon the parents don't run the show like they do at Topsail. Plus Topsail hasn't had a winning season in football since 2012 and that includes a winning record in conference. Basketball has been terrible since like the 11/12 school year. Baseball has been pretty good winning a state championship but they also let go of that coach because he was practicing on Sunday when he was suspended for coaching after having charges brought against him for domestic abuse not once but twice. So yeah not so sure about that superior part.
No problem and the northern part of the county is beautiful as well in the Swansboro area. Some good people up there too. Dixon is growing and wouldn't be surprised to be at 1000 kids in 5 years. There is a lot of very good football teams in the east and pretty much the ones you listed above. SWO is a little bit down right now but they still have athletes. Got a young coach who is building his program after taking over for the legendary Phil Padgett. I think he will do a great job at SWO if the community is patient with him.
Northside has athletes out the yin yang but they are moving into 3A and into a very very tough conference with Havelock. Havelock's coach has moved and they got their former assistant coach back who made East Carteret very good past 2 or 3 years as head coach. East Carteret has athletes but they are such a small school they don't have depth. The principal at Croatan has moved over there to help improve that school and he served on the NCHSAA board of something.
Wherever you end up in Onslow County I think you'll be happy because it's a great place but in terms of athletic success you'll have varying degrees of success. Throughout the county the academics are good but Dixon tends to be near the top in almost every category.
Last time Dixon had a winning season in football was 2012 as well. Also pretty sure Topsail's conference is quite a bit harder than Dixon's lol. When it comes to playing those in our division of the conference, Topsail is fine. Tied this year with West Brunswick and winning the 3A out right the year before.
In regards to basketball, Dixon has had one winning season in well over 10 years. That was last year when they had a Division 1 player on their team and only went 15-12. Topsail played them twice this year and looks like they handled them fairly well.
Baseball not going to comment on the Coach situation since I don't know all the details. But back to back state championship appearances in 2008 and 2009, state title in 2014 and another appearance in the state title game last year is more than "pretty good"
I could keep going with the other sports but these were the ones you mentioned. Soccer is the by far the best mens sport at Dixon...but again, it is soccer....
By any means is Topsail a powerhouse in anything except Baseball, but in comparison to Dixon yes far superior.
Ok I was completely honest with my assessment of Dixon athletics. You were the one getting here saying Topsail was "far superior" when a quick perusing of Maxpreps can tell you otherwise. It's hard to compare the two schools since Topsail is 3A and Dixon is 2A. Very few common opponents. Yes Topsail plays in a tough conference but as I said when it comes to 2A the East Central is right there near the top. Topsail gets the benefit of being in a split 3A / 4A conference which is less competition for 3A "conference" championships and playoff appearances. It's not an easier road due to the competition but due to fewer schools makes the odds better.
As for my comment about parents running the school the coach in 2008 and 2009 who took them to back to back championship appearances was run off by parents due a very weak administration. A parent got mad their kid wasn't playing enough and went after the coach. The coach is not only a great coach but an even better man. He did nothing wrong outside of make the "wrong" parent mad. Also, if I'm not mistaken the baseball program got the entire athletic department on probation due to breaking rules.
You said Topsail was far superior when it is not. Due to Topsail being 3A and bigger I will say they are better athletically. But pound for pound Dixon turns out similar students from far weaker economic situations than Topsail kids. Plus, when you factor in the fact the parents run the show it's not very appealing.
As for my comment about parents running the school the coach in 2008 and 2009 who took them to back to back championship appearances was run off by parents due a very weak administration. A parent got mad their kid wasn't playing enough and went after the coach. The coach is not only a great coach but an even better man. He did nothing wrong outside of make the "wrong" parent mad. Also, if I'm not mistaken the baseball program got the entire athletic department on probation due to breaking rules.
You said Topsail was far superior when it is not. Due to Topsail being 3A and bigger I will say they are better athletically. But pound for pound Dixon turns out similar students from far weaker economic situations than Topsail kids. Plus, when you factor in the fact the parents run the show it's not very appealing.
Also, tying West Brunswick isn't much of an accomplishment. They had a winning season this year but this was the first one since 2011 and I just stopped at 2011. It could go farther back.
I hope my son decides to go back into sports... 5'10",230 pounds at 13 years old,I believe he has the size to help block for a team...signed a lease on a property in Holly Ridge so he will be attending Dixon...just love the area and as I have seen there are some very devoted fans in the area...My wife also received a call about a offer to work for the Dixon school system...can't wait,now I'm excited about the upcoming football season..
Welcome to the area. If your son is a solid football player. The two schools in Onslow county that you may look into enrolling him in Jacksonville and Northside. Will be really close to playing for state titles the next couple of years at both schools.
