Dodson makes his smallest roster work
Tim Dodson is has won 137 games — maybe more — as head football coach at Siuslaw High School. Stan Pusieski/EWSSiuslaw football coach Tim Dodson took a fine 137-53 record into Friday's kickoff to the 2015 season at Newport.
Or maybe he didn't.
"Some people tell me I've got more wins," says Dodson, "but that's what our record book says, and that's what it is until they change it."
The wins are nice, but some things in the game are more important to the 52-year-old high-school physical-education instructor.
"The record is not important," says Dodson. "It's what's going on with the kids. The record's going to take care of itself.
"As long as the kids continue to work hard, the record is what the record is going to be."
For the record, this may be his smallest roster since 1996, when injuries cut his first team to 23 players.
ROSTER
The seniors:
No. 3 Scott Gordon, WR-DB, 5-10, 165
No. 4 Preston Mitchell, QB-DB, 5-11, 175
No. 5 Ryan Denning, WR-DB, 5-6, 130
No. 9 Kenneth Thrall, RB-LB, 5-8, 220
No. 20 Carrson Davidson, WR-DB, 5-8, 140
No. 24 Caleb Paredes, WR-DB, 5-7, 130
No. 42 Marshall Teter, TE-LB, 5-10, 185
No. 51 Michael Mason, OL-DL, 6-3, 195
No. 68 Sean Rojas, OL-DL, 5-10, 185
No. 78 Dylan Jennings, OL-DL, 6-0, 265
No. 84 Reese Siegel, TE-LB, 6-4, 205
The juniors:
No. 1 Cade Clawson, RB-DB, 5-5, 120
No. 21 Brogan Cornish, RB-LB, 5-5, 140
No. 26 Justin Perkins, RB-LB, 5-9, 210
No. 34 Nick Steinman, RB-LB, 6-0, 150
No. 50 Michael Larson, OL-DL, 5-8, 160
No. 54 Marcos Reyna, OL-DL, 5-9, 215
No. 55 Robert Fleming, OL-DL, 6-3, 235
No. 60 Kainan Lane, OL-DL, 6-0, 220
The sophomores:
No. 22 Evan Teter, WR-DB, 5-9, 150
No. 23 Trent Reavis, QB-DL, 6-6, 215
No. 77 Josh Larson, OL-DL, 6-1, 300
Wednesday, an injury to one player and an illness to another had the Vikings below their 22-player threshold, and assistant coaches were called on to fill gaps so they could scrimmage 11 on 11.
"The kids have done a nice job of getting prepared to play; as ready as I think they're physically able and their talent level allows them to, might be a good way to put it," says Dodson.
The Vikings did get some good news Wednesday. Senior quarterback Preston Mitchell, who broke the wrist on his throwing hand in June, was given a medical clearance to play.
"We've got a great group of kids, a great group of seniors who have been working hard to be at this point," says Dodson. "All our seniors, every one of them is a ballplayer. It's their year to rock and roll.
"From Preston to Michael (Mason) to Dylan (Jennings), from Scotty (Gordon) to Kenneth (Thrall), from Marshall (Teter) to Ryan (Denning) to Caleb (Paredes), the list of seniors goes on and on."
There are 11 seniors on the roster, to go with eight juniors and three sophomores.
Each player has an offensive position as well as a defensive responsibility.
"We have a pair, but no spare, at each position," says Dodson.
So how does this team rate with his first 19?
"It's tough to say this is the best-prepared team I've ever had yet, because we don't know that," says Dodson. "(But) we're right there with any one of those (other) 19 seasons."
How will it translate into wins and losses?
"The ball is shaped funny, and it's going to bounce funny," says Dodson. "Sometimes it bounces right to us, and we win games when we shouldn't. Sometimes that ball is going to bounce away away from us, and we'll lose football games we should have won."
To the man who has dedicated more than three decades to the sport, it doesn't ultimately matter.
"(The outcome) doesn't change the kid or the kid's effort," says Dodson. "The win or loss doesn't change who they are; it doesn't change how good they are.
"They're working to be the best person they can be, whether we win or whether we lose isn't going to change the effort."
And that, for the record, is what he believes really matters.
