Bears’ solidity breeds success

DeKALB, Texas—Practice hard, play hard and good things will happen.

DeKalb is coming off a 50-14 win over Queen City on Friday is result of their steady growth over the preceding weeks.

With the growth a n d improvement comes hope.

“It was a big homecoming win for us. The kids played really hard, and we executed well,” DeKalb head coach Buddy Griffin said. “We capitalized on the other team’s mistakes. We ran our base offense, we grinded out some yards, and the kids did a good job.”

Tailback Timon Proby had 23 carries for 184 yards and four touchdowns against Queen City, but he can’t take sole credit for DeKalb’s success.

“Our offensive line has played really well,” Griffin said. “Those guys have been coming off the ball really well. We gained 360 yards in three quarters. Timon did a great job for us, and our fullback Alex Clark ran the ball and blocked well. Our quarterback Kole Dooley ran the ball really hard on the option and threw well. Ty Olson caught a touchdown pass. We had just put Ty in at tight end.”

Jason Jackson is the Bears’ leading tackler at free safety. He is in his senior year with DeKalb.

“Jason continues to be a leader on our defense,” Griffin said. “The Vaughn twins—Jamar and Ramaj— they have played pretty well on defense as well as our defensive ends Carter Wafford and Londell Howard. Alex (Clark), our outside linebacker, had the big hit of the game last week. He put a good pop on a kid, and that got us going a little better on defense. We are young and are still learning how to tackle. The fundamentals are somewhat lacking, but we are teaching that every day.”

Two pleasant surprises so far this season for DeKalb have been the play of Howard and Dillon Kizer, who have given the Bears’ versatility.

“Londell (Howard) and Dillon have been playing all over the place for us on offense,” the DeKalb head coach said. “They have both been tight ends, and Dillon was our backup center at one point. We put them in at guards last week, and they did a great job.”

The Bears on are on bye this week and are preparing to take on Waskom. DeKalb (3-2, 1-1) kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Waskom (4-1, 2-0).

“Waskom has an outstanding football team,” Griffin said. “They are very well coached and do a great job over there.”