DEXTER – After a disappointing 2-7 record last year, the Dexter Regional High School varsity football team hopes to make the playoffs for the first time since 1995. Head coach Haggie Pratt thinks that a year’s experience will help his team achieve its goal, as long as the Tigers can cut down on mental mistakes.

“We were just young, we didn’t have many seniors. … We just made a lot of mental mistakes,” said Pratt.

Pratt hopes to eliminate these mistakes through repetition of plays and drills and through the growing maturity of his returning players. Pratt said he thinks his team has a real chance of making the playoffs this season if the Tigers can grow as a team and do away with the mental mistakes.

“We did a lot of things well against every team last year, but we’d just have a mental mistake and give up something big. … I think another year of seasoning is going to get help that out,” he said.

The coaching staff has been working with the team on areas where the team struggled last year during preseason practices, said Pratt. If the team can shore up these areas of weakness, Pratt believes they can compete with any team in their division.

“We are really concentrating on the areas we know have been weak in the past, and we’ve addressed these issues,” said Pratt.

Pratt said the key to a successful season is in concentrating on what the team does well and not attempting to run plays or offensive schemes that the team has struggled with during practice.

“We’re not trying to do things we don’t do well,” said Pratt.

Pratt hopes to make the playoffs as the team has come close the past few seasons but failed to secure a berth.

“We want to make the playoffs, that’s something we really strive for. We’ve been knocking on the door three years in a row,” said Pratt, “We were the team on the bubble last year with an inexperienced team.”

Pratt’s team will face a tough schedule, including five away games, against the traditionally better teams, such as Foxcroft and Bucksport, as well as recently improved teams such as John Bapst.

Pratt believes that all the teams in the division have a good chance of making the playoffs and hopes his team will be at the top of standings at the end of the season.

“You can put six teams in a hat and see what four you’re going to pull out [to make the playoffs],” said Pratt.

DEXTER TIGERS

2003 results: 2-7, eighth in LTC Class C

Head coach: Haggie Pratt, 11th year

Key players: Eric Day, QB-CB, Sr.; Chris Rabideau, TE-DE, Sr.; Blake Woodruff, OL-LB, Sr.; Mark Pullen, WR-DE, Sr.; Tyler Poirier, OL-DL, Sr.

Outlook: The Tigers look to make the Class C playoffs this season with quarterback Eric Day and 2003 all-conference wide receiver Mark Pullen leading the way. Pratt looks to attack offensively with both the run and the pass.