The Red Demons travel to Park City this Friday to take on the always-tough Heights Falcons. Support the Demons in person, or watch LIVE here on DCHSSports.com. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
Red Demon Football drops season-opener
The Red Demons fell in a rain-soaked war in the trenches
By: Shelton Burch
The Dodge City Red Demons football team fell in their season-opener Friday night, losing 21 to 15 to the Wichita West Pioneers in Wichita.
Rain saturated the field as the game started, lasting until the last drive of the half, and both offenses struggled both catching, kicking and carrying the ball. On second Red Demons’ drive, the Demons missed a field-goal low.
On the very next drive, the Pioneers recovered their own fumble but later missed their own field-goal.
Red Demons’ head coach Dave Foster said it wasn’t a pretty game from his perspective.
“I thought it looked sloppy, I thought we were very unproductive offensively and then the two field-goals we attempted were bad, and we expect more out of that unit and more consistency,” Foster said. “It’s kind of baffling.”
Wichita junior quarterback Zion Parks led a multi-pronged running game that included junior running back Shakur Johnson and junior running back Xavier Sellers.
Between the three, they Pioneers ran right through a defensive line Foster expected more out of.
“We got beat in the box, which we didn’t think we would get beat in the box, and we tried a lot of different personnel,” Foster said.
Red Demons senior quarterback Dawson Williams struggled. On the first play of the team’s fourth drive, and trailing 7-0, Williams overthrew his receiver on his right. The pass was picked off by Pioneers senior free-safety Alante French and returned to put the Pioneers up 14-0.
Foster said his team is already looking at some of the film to see what happened.
“We saw replays on the sideline and we had some kids that came back and we thought would play at a higher level, and really didn’t,” Foster said. “So we’ve got to figure some of that out and figure out who’s going to play on Friday night.”
In the second-half Foster put in sophomore quarterback Beau Foster, who was able to help the offense, eventually throwing a touchdown to bring the score to 14-7 by the end of the third quarter.
“He brings a different side (to the offense),” Foster said. “What Dawson
does, Dawson does great, but he has to be dependent on the guys up front opening creases up, and when that wasn’t happening we know (putting in Foster is) our answer. We’ll evaluate the film. I thought Beau did a great job getting us points on the board, getting the ball to playmakers and that’s the element that he brings. He’s not as strong of a runner as Dawson, and we know that, but he’s more two-dimensional.”
Despite the loss Friday night, the team could show significant improvement by next week. The Red Demons play their home-opener Friday against Wichita Southeast.
“Our biggest improvement every year as (I’ve been) a head coach is between weeks one and two,” Foster said. “Kids see it on film where they’re giving sub par effort or technique.”
Next week’s game will also include Dodge City’s Ring Of Honor Inductions, a ceremony Foster said he enjoys.
“It’s neat because the history and tradition of Dodge City as a high school and the football program is enormous, it’s one of the biggest in the state,” Foster said. “When we bring those people in, it’s great for our kids to see traditions and the people that build that community.”
Red Demons open season vs. Wichita West
Game will provide glimpse of developing offensive line, recieving corps
By Shelton Burch, Dodge Globe Staff writer
The Dodge City Red Demons football team opens the season at 7 p.m. tonight in Wichita. Their opponent will be the Wichita West Pioneers, a team which finished last season 3-6 and failed to make the state tournament.
It’s a game Red Demons head coach Dave Foster said he thinks his team can win, and it’s far from the only one on their schedule he thinks that about.
“I told the kids, I said ‘With the mix of kids we got back and the kids that came up out of that freshman group that are sophomores, we’re capable of playing with every team on our schedule and winning out,’” Foster said. “That’s the type of tools that we have.”
But for that to happen, there will also have to be some growth from that youth.
“Now some of them are young tools, and they’re going to have some positive experiences early in the season for us to be able to take those kinds of steps,” Foster said. “We play (Wichita) West right of the bat (today), they’re a very competitive football team that two years beat us. That’s our only season opener that we’ve lost since I’ve been in Dodge.”
Some of the players on this season’s roster remember that, and that can be helpful, especially in the case of that game, which Foster said the Red Demons should have won.
“This group of kids does remember that that can happen,” Foster said.
Absent from this year’s roster is former star-running back Tylor Garcia, who graduated after last season. Star-quarterback Dawson Williams, however, does return. Williams had 25 touchdowns last season, nearly breaking the school-record of 26. Just like last year, Williams will be one of the key players on the offensive side of the ball this season.
But Foster said one of the biggest questions will be whether or not the offensive line can play well enough to help that Demons move the ball on the ground. If they can, Foster said this offense will extremely dangerous.
“If we’re able to achieve what we were a year ago, then the magic x-factor is how well can we disperse this ball to the perimeter to a more athletic group of skill kids,” Foster said.
Those wide receivers and skill players could have a major impact if the offensive line is able to hold of opposing defensive lines and set the offense up for potential big plays, Foster said.
“Now, all of a sudden, a line-of-scrimmage fastscreen can go 80 (yards) because that’s what this group of kids is capable of,” Foster said. “If we’re not able to consistently
get that ball out there we’re going to have everybody in the box at the party that we had last year, and now it’s a dogfight to see who can do that consistently. At some point you can’t just be a run-only team, somebody’s going to have better Jimmy’s and Joe’s in the box.”
The Dodge City Red Demons take on the Wichita West Pioneers at 7 p.m. tonight in Northwest Stadium in Wichita.
Football Season Ticket Information
All-Conference Football Results
Nine demons earn WAC honor
Nine members of the Dodge City High School football team earned Western Athletic Conference honors on Monday.
Dodge City’s offensive and defensive lines were two of the team’s biggest strengths this season. That reflected in the All-WAC selections as senior offensive linemen Thomas Sanchez and Justin Schowengerdt along with sophomore defensive linemen Marcos Fisher and Evan Darville were the four Red Demons to earn First Team All-WAC honors.
Junior quarterback Dawson Williams and senior running back Tylor Garcia both earned Second Team All-WAC honors. Williams and Garcia combined for 2,532 rushing yards and 30 rushing touchdowns. Junior Heriberto Real was the third offensive lineman to earn conference honors as we was placed on the Second Team All-WAC team.
Defensively, senior linebacker Clay Carpenter and senior safety Sam Unruh also earned Second Team All-WAC honors.
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