So goes the offensive line, so goes Dorchester football
Raiders breaking in four new starters up front
St. George – The Dorchester Academy football team is returning five starters on offense from last season’s 8-3 squad. The only problem with that is just one of those starters is on the offensive line.
“If you’d asked me in early July or late June how we’re going to be I would have said, ‘If we can block we’ll be good, if we can’t block we’ll be pretty bad,’ “ said Raiders head coach Michael Nelson, whose team opened its season on August 22 against Andrew Jackson Academy. “I really think we’re ahead of the curve, which is encouraging. We have decent size, but we’re young and inexperienced. We’re way ahead of where I thought even though we’re not where we want to be.”
The lone returning starter on the offensive line is sophomore right tackle Jae Carn (6-feet-2-inches, 280 pounds). The left tackle is sophomore Clayton Zeigler, the left guard is junior Will Quattlebaum and the right guard is freshman Matthew Byron.
Battling for the center position is junior Jack Whetsell and senior Kaden Turbeville.
If the blocking comes through, DA has several returning skill players capable of taking advantage of it. Senior John Quattlebaum is back at quarterback with senior John Whetsell returning at running back. Whetsell ran for 1,752 yards and 15 touchdowns while Quattlebaum threw for 1,105 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Sophomore Reed Almers is back after rushing for 332 yards. Senior tight end Abe Shuler caught 24 passes for 446 yards and three TDs, while junior wide receiver Noah Risher had 19 catches for 269 yards and one score.
Senior Landon Holly will be the other wide receiver.
Nelson likes the talent he has at the skill positions on offense.
“We’ve got a couple of guys who can catch the football and we can get to when teams put eight in the box to stop the run,” he said. “We feel like we can get them in man to man on the outside and win some 1-on-1s.
“That will help John even more. I’ve got a lot of guys who will contribute on the offensive side that are pretty athletic guys.”
Dorchester returns four starters on defense. The 4-man defensive front will include senior Bradley Sievert, Carn, Byron and John Whetsell. The linebacker corps will be made up of sophomore Warren Judy, Almers and Shuler. The secondary will have Holly, Risher, John Quattlebaum and sophomore Graham Varnadoe.
Nelson said it is a necessity that the Raiders stay as healthy as possible.
“Our roster is not as deep as it was last year,” Nelson said. “We’ve got just 23 guys, but we’re deep talent-wise. Of that number, 21 of them can play. So I think the key to success for us is our ability to stay healthy.”
