Dixie Football – Young but Ready
J. C. Tilton

Dixie graduated a lot of their skill players last year. So they are coming in with a new quarterback, receivers, and running backs. But they do have an experienced line. In their scrimmage this past week against Tri-County North, they started off slow. North seemed to dominate the first part of the scrimmage. But Dixie regrouped, adjusted and they out scored North in last part of the scrimmage. Their final drive was the best drive by either team. Running the spread offense, they threw short possession passes and mixed in the run to make the final score of the night.

The team did mix in a traditional offense, but the spread with their team quickness was most effective. The defense did give up some big plays - two long TD passes and one long TD run, but overall seemed to handle the run fairly well. The middle linebacker, Ethan Hayes, really seemed to have a nose for the ball. But the young team will need to find a way to be more consistent and eliminate those defense breakdowns before week one.

Coach Tarpley was asked to comment after the scrimmage, “You could tell that we were young and inexperienced. But in that last quarter we did a really good job of coming back. That is something we emphasize to the team - to keep coming back. Our offensive line did a pretty good job, but we are really young at quarterback, receiver, and slots. We are really looking for big things from Michael Hall – who has the potential to be one of the better running backs in the league, Dougie Hauser, and Ryan Jordan. On defense we are impressed with Ethan Hayes, a third year starter. He was a state runner up in wrestling. Cody Johnson is another 3 year starter on the line. “

The League, “Monroe and Carlisle will be two of the tougher teams in the Buckeye division this season. Monroe has always done well in our division and Carlisle returns a lot – plus two kids from Valley View left and are now playing for them. We hope to be competitive with them.”