Belfry running back Isaac Dixon earns Kentucky Mr. Football honors
Less than two weeks removed from a spectacular showing in the state championship game, Belfry star Isaac Dixon has been named Mr. Football by the Kentucky Football Coaches Association.
Dixon ran 196 times for 1,986 yards and 29 touchdowns this season for the Pirates, who finished 4-6 in the regular season before winning five consecutive games in the postseason and knocking off Paducah Tilghman, 33-28, in the 3A state title game at Kroger Field this month.
He also caught three passes for 184 yards and three touchdowns and accumulated 46 tackles on defense.
In the state title game, Dixon ran 41 times for 376 and all five of the team’s touchdowns. He also had a two-point conversion — scoring 32 of the Pirates’ 33 points — and led the squad with seven solo tackles on defense.
Dixon, a fifth-year senior, surpassed the 1,000-yard mark rushing in each of his last four seasons in high school. He has scholarship offers from Charleston and Pikeville, in addition to a preferred walk-on offer from the University of Kentucky.
The KFCA also named Woodford County’s Dennis Johnson the state’s coach of the year Wednesday. Johnson led the Yellow Jackets to a 13-1 season, with the lone loss coming in the 5A semifinal game, a 46-25 defeat to eventual state champ South Warren.
Johnson, a former UK football standout, is in his seventh season as Woodford County’s coach. He took over a program that had just one winning season over the seven years before his arrival, and the Yellow Jackets continued to struggle with four more losing seasons to start his tenure. Woodford County had a winning mark for the third consecutive year this season, setting a program record for most wins in a season.
“I wanted to come here and try to build a program. It’s not about me. I want to do it for this community, these kids, so I’m happy for all (of) them,” Johnson said after the team won a region title last month. “We’ve done a lot in the community to build our football program, so a lot of people have some input in what you see on the field today.”
The KFCA started honoring its own Mr. Football in 2018. The Associated Press has named a Mr. Football winner since 1986, and that award for 2021 will be announced at a later date.
Dixon is the third Kentucky high school football player to earn a top honor this season, with Frederick Douglass standout Dane Key receiving the Paul Hornung Award and Lexington Christian running back Xavier Brown being named the Gatorade Player of the Year.
Key, a UK commitment, and Brown, a Virginia commitment, were two of 11 finalists for the KFCA’s Mr. Football award.
This story was originally published December 15, 2021 at 10:39 AM.
