Bulldogs look to replace strong senior class from last year

DUGGER -- The 2009 Union (Dugger) football team members are front row (from left) Weston Inman, Trey Snead, Trent Collins, Frank Boyd, Mike Foglesong, Dustin Howard, Jesse Lipscomb and Sterling Langley. Middle row (from left) Jake Phegley, Taylor Cain, Gage Camden, Clayton LaGrand, Tanner Reynolds, Darrell Faulkner and Brandon Duncan. Back row (from left) Adam Morrill, Dakota Brown, Cody Francis, Hunter Swan, Gerran Wilkes, Eli Mejean, Caleb Kelm and Seth Gambill. (By Travis David/Greene County Daily World). [Order this photo]

DUGGER -- At the end of last season, Union (Dugger) head football coach Todd Gambill was wondering how many players he would have for this season's team after losing more than half of his team to graduation.

From a pure numbers standpoint, Gambill will only have one less player on the roster when the season officially gets underway this Friday night. Experience is a totally different story on the other hand.

"It's a definite relief to have this kind of numbers," the veteran head coach said. "Anytime you graduate over half of your team, the next season is always a question mark. Most coaches would not be happy to have 23 kids on their roster, but we are ecstatic. We are fortunate to have a good freshman class."

After posting their best season (6-4) since 2005 (8-3), Gambill said he is not going to gauge this season by wins and loses.

"We are not going to get caught up in the numbers of wins this season," Gambill said. "We are just going to focus on improving from game-to-game. We are going to have to live with some mistakes and just try and limit them."

Senior Trent Collins will be the starting signal caller this season for the Bulldogs offense. Collins has seen some limited action under center in each of the last two seasons for Gambill's squad.

"The main thing about Trent is he believes in himself as do we," Gambill said. "He seems to have a better understanding of how to read defenses now.

"He will not possess the running force like B.J. (Howard) did last season. We have all the confidence in Trent to be able to run the offense effectively."

Gambill said the team will try and be pretty evenly balanced this year.

"We are going to have to mix it up," he said. "We may have to rely on our running game to start with, but the main thing is we are going to have more ball control, few penalties and move the chains."

Dustin Howard, Frank Boyd and Jesse Lipscomb are expected to be the work horses for Gambill in the backfield this season. Seth Gambill could be penciled in as the tight end, with Tanner Reynolds, Gage Camden, Brandon Duncan and Gerran Wilkes stabilizing the offensive line.

"I feel like we have our most experience returning on both of our lines," Gambill said.

Adam Morrill and Cody Francis is also expected to see some time in the trenches. Francis is a senior, who sat out each of the last two years.

On the other side of the ball, Howard, Gambill and Reynolds are expected to be the centerpieces of the defense from the linebacker position. Collins and Lipscomb will anchor the secondary.

"Trent did a good job from the safety position last year," Gambill said of the two-way player. "And Jesse seems as if he really learned a lot last season in the secondary as well."

The head coach said he may run into a bigger problem when giving his starters a breather.

"We have a lot of inexperience on our bench this year," Gambill said. "We are really going to have to rely on the older guys. We are going to have some guys trying new positions. But the main thing is to make sure we make the necessary adjustments and get the kids in the right spot.

Gambill also mentioned the inexperience could turn into a positive this season.

"All the kids know they are just a play away from getting into the game," he said. "They will all be more involved and hopefully that will make them more motivated."

Sterling Langley, Dakota Brown, Hunter Swan and Mike Foglesong are all freshmen that Gambill expect to make an immediate impact on the team.

"On most teams these guys would be going from junior high to a "B" team," Gambill said of his freshman class. "But here they are going to get on the job training so to speak. They will find out its a big jump, but they all are working hard."

With over half his starters gone, Gambill is still positive about this season.

"We have a lot of question marks, but they all have been upbeat all summer," he said. "I am happy with our progress thus far and I feel like we should match-up decent with most teams on our schedule. We just want to see improvement from week to week and be competitive."

The Bulldogs will open their season Friday on the road against Southwest Seven Conference foe North Central.

Union (Dugger)

Football roster

Head coach: Todd Gambill (59-87, 14 seasons).

Assistant coaches: Aaron Gambill, Josh Ledune, Rick Swan, Chad Reynolds.