Dalton football finding its footing under new coach
Despite losing many key players to graduation, Dalton is off to a 2-1 start under first-year DHS head coach Ray Leek.
There’s about as much change in the Dalton School District this fall as one will ever see in a year, and that includes the football team.
New key leaders include Superintendent Steve Watkins, Principal Zach McFarren, Athletic Director Ethan Kagy and head football coach Ray Leek.
Change can be a good thing, though, if good people are part of the team. Early on it looks like the Bulldogs are well-suited to continue their longstanding tradition of excellence.
“Coach Leek is a great guy, a great coach,” said senior wide receiver-defensive back Brady Hignight, who helped the Bulldogs get off to a 2-1 start in nonconference play. “Obviously, it’s something new for us having to learn a whole new playbook, but I feel like we’ve gotten it down pretty well. All the coaches have been great at helping us out.”
The Bulldogs went 13-2 last season, with their only losses coming to Marion Local in the Division VII state title game and Div. VI champ Kirtland.
It’s not often a team loses its coach after a run to the state title game, but after Broc Dial stepped down, that opened the door for Leek to move from his post at Cambridge.
Leek, a graduate of Alliance High School and Mount Union, knows something special when he sees it. He hopes he’s a Bulldog for a long time.
“My family has moved up here, and we’re excited to be here,” Leek said. “My kids are going to go to school here. They’re going to be Bulldogs. I can see us being here for a very long time and hopefully retire here and become a part of the community. It’s a small community, and they’ve been very welcoming and supportive. They love their football as much as I do, so it’s a great match.”
Leek feels a strong sense of teamwork from the school’s new administrative team, and he also likes what he’s seen of the leadership on the gridiron.
Despite losing many key players to graduation and having senior All-Ohioan Sammy Tomlinson sidelined with an injury early in the season, the Bulldogs hung tough in a 55-34 season-opening loss at Kirtland.
Dalton gave Leek his first win in a 48-26 rout of Sparta Highland in week two and trounced Mogadore 34-0 in week three.
The Bulldogs will get two excellent tests to open Wayne County Athletic League play, hosting archrival Smithville in week four and then visiting Hillsdale in week five. The Smithies and Falcons both got off to 3-0 starts.
“I think we’re starting to gel and clean things up,” Leek said. “Hopefully, we just continue to get better each day and each time we’re out there on the field. With three games under our belts, you start to see who can do what, and I love the grit of our team.”
Dalton has shown an impressive ability to mix the run and pass.
Sophomore quarterback Carter Hignight was 42-of-69 passing for 406 yards and seven touchdowns through three games while adding 40 carries for 174 yards and four more scores.
With Tomlinson sidelined for an undetermined amount of time with a shoulder injury, junior Jaxon Ryder leads the team with 47 carries for 349 yards and two TDs. The 5-foot-10, 190-pound player had a breakout game with 22 carries for 227 yards against Mogadore.
“Jaxon’s really stepped up and had a huge role on our offense,” Leek said. “You have to give a lot of the credit to the O-line there, because without them he doesn’t have that.
“Carter can extend plays with his feet and has done a good job throwing the ball, and he’s also a threat in our run game. We’ve got some pretty good receivers in Coy Wenger (11-197, 3 TDs), Brady Hignight (13-149, 2 TDs) and Caden Russell (6-64).”
Junior linebacker Conner Mori is the leading tackler for a well-balanced defense.
Football fans in Dalton, and the entire area for that matter, will long remember the 2023 Bulldogs. They were the school’s first football team to reach a state title game and just the third in WCAL history. Norwayne (2011 champ) and Smithville (2002 runner-up) were the others.
“It was a phenomenal run to make it to the state championship game last year, but it felt like it was more the seniors’ year than ours,” senior offensive tackle-defensive end Matthew Heatwole said. “As seniors we want to be back there. We want it to be our year this year, playing in the state championship again.”
That would be much more difficult with Dalton moving up into the same Div. VI region with Kirtland. Before anyone thinks about the playoffs, the Bulldogs know they will be strongly tested in the WCAL.
“We wrote on the board a few of our own goals,” senior fullback-linebacker Alex Hess said. “The first one was obviously we want to win the WCAL and beat Norwayne and Smithville. We want to make a good playoff run and end up in a state championship again.”
The Bulldogs are still finding their identity, but learning change can be good.
“It’s definitely a little bit different than last year, but it’s going very well,” Hess said. “Everybody likes coach Leek. He’s a cool dude, and we’re just having so much fun, learning and working hard.”