Experienced Dixon squad comes into fall hungry after close losses in the spring

The 2021 spring football season was a great learning experience for the Dixon Dukes.

It also left them hungry for the 2021 fall season.

The Dukes went 1-3, but the three losses came by a grand total of 17 points (two by five points and one by seven), while the win was a heart-stopping 20-19 victory over Stillman Valley.

“It just gives us the motivation, makes us think that it’s our time to step up and really take on that senior role and win those close games,” Justin Dallas said.

“I think those are good lessons we’ve learned,” Hunter Gehrt added. “It’ll make us want to fight for a little extra in the fourth quarter every game to make sure we’re not losing those close games.”

With last season being so much closer to the fall, and with a summer camp squeezed in during the final week of July, Dixon’s players feel there’s much more continuity because everything is so fresh on their minds coming into the 2021 preseason.

“It’s very key for us, because all of our players have just started clicking quicker and we’re meshing together better,” Dallas said. “Things are moving faster, and we’ll just be more mature players. I can’t wait to see what great stuff we can do.”

Another factor that will help the Dukes this fall is experience. Dixon lost only four players to graduation from the spring, meaning the major core of the team on both sides of the ball is coming back.

“We’ve got a lot of guys returning since we didn’t have many seniors last year, so we expect have a lot of success,” Jacob Gusse said. “We’re pretty excited, since everyone’s returning and we’re all returning starters. I think it was easier to get back in the groove. We remembered a lot of stuff from last year, we didn’t really have to go over much, just kind of hopped right back into it.”

Jacob Gaither returns at quarterback after leading the team in rushing (362 yards, 2 TDs) and finishing tied for tops in the area with 57 pass completions, tied for second with 7 touchdown tosses, and third in the area with 621 passing yards.

He also has back a pair of all-conference receivers in Gehrt and Gusse, with that duo combining for 23 catches for 304 yards and 5 touchdowns this past spring.

“Our Class of ‘22 has been pretty good throughout the year, so just coming into our senior year, we should be good,” Gaither said. “As long as our chemistry is still there and we still have the plays down, this could be a really good year for us.”

“Our running game should be pretty good, but I think our passing will be more of our strong suit,” Gehrt added. “We didn’t really lose much, and I think we’ll play pretty good football with the guys we have coming back.”

With the bitter taste of so many close losses lingering, and an experienced and talented group of returning starters, the Dukes are expecting big things this fall. And while the Big Northern Conference is always a gauntlet, Dixon hopes to run it as smoothly as possible and is keeping its eyes on a playoff berth.

“We have a lot more to play for this year, with a full conference schedule and a possible spot in the playoffs ahead of us,” Gaither said. “Last year was only four games, but I think we learned a lot from them, and we believe this could be a strong season for us.”