MAUPIN – For three years, Dawson Herlocker has been a part of the foundation for the South Wasco County football team.
As he approaches his senior year, the veteran now takes on the responsibility of being one of the voices in the locker room, showing leadership to a roster of 16 players, seven underclassmen, at the start of the 2016 campaign.
After an 0-8 output last season, Herlocker and his teammates are hoping to play consistent, fundamentally-sound football and, hopefully, put a notch in the win column.
“We want to win. We are thirsty for a win,” Herlocker said. “We didn’t get any wins last year and we had some seniors that are gone now, but we have some young guys here that have some promise, so it is our main goal to improve and give ourselves chance to get it done. It is going to take the freshmen and the other young guys to step up, the other guys need to fill their roles like they have been doing and it will take everyone getting on the same page ready to battle every time we play a game.”
Playing without graduated Ellis Rager, Devan Dammann and Brody Myers, the Redsides will have a new-look backfield, some new receiving weapons and a more athletic offensive line, led by Herlocker, Timo Hisatake, Zane Malefyte, Dennis McCabe and Michael Cuevas.
Ty Herlocker and Kabe Frederick are manning the tight end slots.
Receivers Jesse Scoville, Austin Brady, Ryan Hubbard, Tuff Wilson, Chris McCabe and Cameron Hogenkamp bring a speed element to the roster to help open up opposing defenses.
Senior Andrew Lindley returns as quarterback, and Brandon Wraught and Keith Kegel are penciled in as running backs.
“This year, we are a little light with our backs. Our line is a little lighter and a little faster and older,” said coach Mike Waine. “Brandon will be our fullback and Keith Kegel will be our tailback. Between the two of them, they are about 260 pounds, maybe a little more, but they have a lot of heart between the two of them and they both run like they are 230.”
With the institution of the Heads-Up program, Waine and defensive coordinator Michael Carter have put an emphasis on the fundamentals of tackling, one-on-one drills and blocking drills to get the young players up to speed on the proper techniques of the game.
Dammann and Myers were fixtures in the secondary and Rager was a standout linebacker, but Ty Herlocker now serves the role of middle linebacker with his physical play.
On defense, Ty Herlocker racked up 42 tackles, including a season-best 12 tackles in the Redsides’ game versus Ione on Oct. 30.
Kegel had 52.5 tackles from his linebacker slot and earned praise for his hard-nosed style.
Dawson Herlocker, the McCabe brothers, Hubbard, Scoville, Hisatake, Lindley and the rest of the defense are now thrust into the mix to try to shut down opposing offenses and give their own offense an opportunity to score on short fields.
“We are definitely trying to coach that intensity back into the team,” Waine said. “Last year, we lacked a lot of that intensity. We didn’t have the killer instincts in a lot of guys. Maybe two guys out of eight and out of those two guys, one could make it through an entire game without getting banged up. We are trying to emphasize the swarm tackling and the form tackling and getting that physical play up. We have made some adjustments and moved some players around and we hope that it will make a big impact for us.”
In his third year as coach, Waine is taking the steps necessary to build a foundation of success for years to come.
The team has youth coming through the pipeline, completed their first league season in five years and played with sportsmanship.
Dawson Herlocker feels a responsibility to leave an impression on the young athletes, while also serving as an ambassador to a community that shows support.
“It means everything to be a part of this program and to be a Redside,” Dawson Herlocker said. “The whole town looks up to us and it is an honor to be a part of that. Everyone comes to our games, win or lose, and they still love us. At a bigger school, you don’t get the recognition, but here, everyone loves what we do and I think we owe it to those people to give them our best game every time out. So, it means everything to be a part of something bigger than you.”
SWC starts with a road date in Mapleton at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in a re-scheduled contest.
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