With lessons learned, Stangs look toward future
MARBLE FALLS — The 2012 Marble Falls High School football team might not have qualified for the playoffs, but players and head coach Todd Dodge still saw plenty of success this season.
And they believe that’s the start of something special.
Dodge, who started as the athletic director and head football coach Feb. 1, said the past several months have been about instilling confidence and installing offensive and defensive philosophies at the high school and middle school levels. He said special teams has improved throughout the season, and the defense got better on stopping teams on third down.
But more important than the way the team performs under the Friday night lights, Mustangs say playing for Dodge this season was an honor.
“He knows a lot more than any other coach I’ve ever had,” senior linebacker Efrain Perez said. “And he just shows you the things like some of the things you might not have ever learned. He’ll point them out to you, and he definitely makes you grow a little bit. The whole work ethic thing, he gets you going. It makes it a lot better and funner to play for him.”
“What I’ve learned this year for this coming year is we need to get more leadership,” senior defensive lineman Nathan Short said. “Leadership is the key to victories. That is one thing I can take with me is that I know I am a leader.”
Senior offensive lineman Rex Printz added: “Always stay to what you’re supposed to do, like stay in your job, keep doing what you’re doing, even if it doesn’t work, just don’t give up. That’s pretty much the main thing he’s taught me, so keep going.”
Senior receiver Ishiah Carson said Dodge has told the players ways of being better teammates.
“If one of my teammates drops a ball or something, coach getting after them, you go over there, you don’t say anything else to them,” he said. “You bring them up instead of putting them down. Coaches aren’t putting you down, they’re going to tell you what you can do better. Some people get down, and you just have to help them up.”
Dodge said he was pleased to hear their comments, noting he told the players during the spring semester the program was going to be known for more than its win-loss record.
And he still believes if the Mustangs continue to apply lessons from this season, the wins and losses will take care of themselves.
Some of those lessons started during some key District 25-4A games:
n In their 42-28 loss to Leander Rouse, Dodge said he believes the outcome came down to a few things – not scoring when the Mustangs were on the Raiders’ 9-yard line, a bad punt that allowed the Raiders to start deep in Mustangs’ territory that led to a touchdown and a Mustangs’ fumble on the Rouse 14-yard line that led to a Raiders touchdown.
n In their 37-7 loss to Leander Vandegrift, the big lesson for the players was understanding their role during the homecoming festivities, Dodge said, which is to focus on winning the game. “We didn’t show up,” he said. “It was very disappointing.”
n In their 35-19 loss to Cedar Park Vista Ridge, Marble Falls had a chance in the end, but three dropped passes on the final drive forced the Mustangs to attempt to extend the drive on fourth down. Instead, the drive stalled, allowing the Rangers to score a 4-yard touchdown to put the game out of reach. “That drive was disappointing,” Dodge said. “We have to step up big in those situations.
“A 14-point loss to Rouse, a 16-point loss to Vista Ridge,” he added. “It’s important our players understand how close we were.”
If the Mustangs had earned those two wins combined with the 38-35 win against Dripping Springs on Nov. 2, they would have three district victories and a chance at a playoff berth, Dodge said.
Still, the Mustangs skipper credited his players for taking advantage of their opportunities against the Tigers, noting senior kicker Jacob Wyatt split the uprights from 29 yards out for the win. Before that, the Marble Falls defense forced a turnover on downs with less than 3 minutes remaining and three timeouts to give its offense a chance.
“Our players really did a nice job of focusing in on creating a win and willing ourselves to victory,” Dodge said. “We have to be able to pull that out of them. It could have gone either way. We have to go out and play our tails off.”