Class 4A Blog: Creekside, Benson want to capitalize off successful 2024 season

Ever since head coach Maurice Dixon’s first season with the school in 2017 where the Seminoles went 0-10, the Creekside football program has changed drastically and has turned into the powerhouse in Class 4A that they are seen as now.

Coming off of the school's third-straight region title in their first year in Region 4-4A, the Seminoles haven’t lost a regional game in three seasons and are 33-1 in regional matchups since 2020.

Dixon and Creekside have turned in four-straight 10-plus win seasons including a quarterfinals berth (2022), two semifinal berths (2021, 2024) and a state championship appearance (2023) where the Seminoles lost in the finals against Coffee.

Creekside returns tons of talent in 2025 including their signal-caller, Cayden Benson who’s poised to lead the team to another successful season.

In his first season in the program after transferring over from Parkview, the quarterback turned in an incredible junior season leading the Seminoles to a 10-3 record and becoming one of the most underrated quarterbacks in the state.

Benson registered 2,395 yards through the air on a 67% completion percentage on his way to throwing 30 touchdowns, averaging around 184 yards per game.

The dual-threat quarterback not only made his presence known through the air, but in the ground game as well as he led the Seminoles in rushing by more than 400 yards. Benson rushed for 1,085 yards on 183 carries, finding the endzone 12 times while averaging just over 83 yards per game. Benson rushed for over 100 yards on five separate occasions last season, becoming the catalyst for the Seminoles offense.  

“With Cayden man, he's a fantastic talent,” said Dixon at Georgia High School Football Media Day. “For him it's about his decision making and when he makes really good decisions consistently we are unbeatable. When he tries to play hero ball, and tries to take it on his shoulders to be the guy, even though he's more than capable of it, we might not be as consistent as possible.”

Benson has plenty of talent around him to spread the ball around too including a pair of wideouts in Damien Henderson and Eric Paul Jr. who both look to step into more prominent roles heading into the new season.

Henderson finished second on the team in receptions and receiving yards last season with 596 yards on 47 receptions while also accounting for three touchdowns. Paul finished with 302 receiving yards and four touchdowns.

“I feel like we have the best playmakers in 4A football around him,” said Dixon. “If we just spread the wealth, we are going to have a lot of success.”

Creekside opens its season playing in the Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic on the road in Rome against the Wolves before playing back-to-back out of state opponents in the following weeks against Seminole (FL) on the road before welcoming Desoto (TX) to town in the third week of the season.

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