Russell key as Dexter rebuilds ground game

The Dexter Tigers’ 2001 football season was one of missed chances and dropped footballs.

The Tigers finished 5-4 and just out of the LTC playoffs.

“We narrowly missed,” coach Harold “Haggie” Pratt said. “We couldn’t come much closer. We lost to [Mattanawcook Academy] and we had some chances. We had a touchdown called back inside one minute to go.”

That 14-13 loss to the Lynx in week three of the season likely kept the Tigers out of postseason play. Dexter finished in a three-way tie for second place with Mattanawcook of Lincoln and Stearns of Millinocket. Two of the Tigers’ losses came against the Lynx and the Minutemen.

If the Tigers are to be involved in the playoffs this season, they’ll need to find the 797 yards rushing lost with the graduation of Kevin Armstrong. They’ll look to senior Adam Russell to pick up the slack. Russell is a three-year starter who ran for 752 yards on 120 carries, a 6.3-yard average each time he carried the ball.

“He’s been our threat outside. He’s one of the quicker kids in the conference. If we can get him outside in some one-on-one situations, hopefully, he can do some good things for us,” Pratt said.

The Tigers are also hopeful that sophomore quarterback Eric Day (5-foot-9, 150 pounds) can step in and do the job.

“We don’t know about him yet. This is his first year. He is a smart kid and understands the game. He’s quick and we’ll run the option with him. Hopefully, he’ll make good decisions for us,” Pratt said.

When Day puts the ball in the air, it will likely be in the direction of senior tight end Josh Bishop (6-1, 190). Pratt said that Bishop catches the ball well in traffic and has “very good hands.”

Senior Andrew Paradis (6-2, 260) anchors the defensive line.

“Andrew is going to be hard to move out of the way. He’s a steady player,” Pratt said.

Pratt said senior defensive end Ben Pomelow (6-0, 190) brings experience to the defense and senior fullback and linebacker Aaron Vafiades (5-10, 215) has played every position for the Tigers except quarterback.

Dwayne Currier (5-11, 240) is a senior center and linebacker who is entering his third year as a starter.

Despite the senior leadership and experience, Pratt said the Tigers must do a better job on defense than a year ago.

“We have to be better tacklers. We seemed to have people stopped last year, but we’d have a breakdown. Someone would break free and turn it into a big gain,” Pratt.

And if the Tigers tackle and their young quarterback can come through, Pratt sees good things for his team.

“As you look around the league Foxcroft Academy and Bucksport are going to be in [the playoffs]. There’ll be four other teams going after the two other spots,” Pratt said. “If our sophomore quarterback comes along, we’ve got a shot at getting there.”

DEXTER TIGERS

2001 results: 5-4 in LTC Class C

Head coach: Harold “Haggie” Pratt, 9th year

Key players: Aaron Vafiades, FB-LB, Sr.; Adam Russell, TB-CB, Sr.; Dwayne Currier, C-LB, Sr.; Josh Bishop TE-LB, Sr.; Andrew Paradis, DT-OT, Sr.; John O’Brien, DE-OT, Sr.; Ben Pomelow, DE-OG, Sr.

Outlook: Pratt believes his team can get to the playoffs, but it’ll have to cut down on the number of mistakes it made a year ago. Pratt wants to build a winning tradition at the school and is attempting to develop a sense of pride in the program.