Honoring The Spirit Of Bulldog 55

"Heart Of The

Lion" Lives

On In 2010

Dayton Team;

Bickelhaupt

Is New Head

Coach

DAYTON - During the Bulldogs' preseason training, Coach Dean Bickelhaupt never mentions Andrew Groom by name.

He doesn't need to.

Groom, the sel f les s 16-year-old Bulldog defensive linebacker who was an inspiration to everyone before he died earlier this year, is always on and near their minds, literally.

A decal of his number, 55, appears on the back of their helmets. The number has also been retired until after his class graduates in 2012.

As the team gets ready for the season, there seems to be little question the 31 athletes on the roster will play their hearts out to live up to his spirit.

"It will be an inspiration to us throughout the year," Bickelhaupt says about the team's fond memories of 55, affectionately known among his friends as "the Groomer."

"He meant everything to our kids," Bickelhaupt says.

For this and several other reasons, the 2010 - 2011 season promises to be unique in the Bulldogs' history.

Aside from the tragic loss of one of their favorite teammates, it's also the first year the Bulldogs have the popular Bickelhaupt as their head coach and no fewer than five experienced trainers as assistant coaches, led by JV Coach Greg Fullerton.

Bickelhaupt, who was an assistant coach for 11 years before he got the top job, is respected by his peers in the league who think he will be able to boost the Bulldogs' performance this season.

"Dayton will be a much improved team," WP Coach Jeff Bartlow says about the Cardinals' cross-valley rivals. "I think Dean is going to do great."

Last year was a tough 0-9 year for the dawgs, leading to discon- tent even among the most ardent fans. Before the season has even started, the appointment of Bickelhaupt as head coach has Dayton boosters more upbeat and supportive of the boys in crimson and yellow.

The Bulldogs also benefit this year from a more seasoned bench and leadership from players such as junior Colton Bickelhaupt, the Bulldogs' starting quarterback, junior Croft Sunderland, starting defensive lineman, and Josh Frame, linebacker and running back - all of whom have been playing since they were freshmen. Senior Dain Henderson is a pivotal fullback, while senior Pat Trainor is a cornerstone lineman.

To back up and supplement the veteran starters, Bickelhaupt is looking at players such as JV quarterback Isaiah Lambert and defensive player Wyatt Frame (Josh's younger brother), also a JV player who will see some Varsity action this year.

When it comes down to it, Bickelhaupt says, Dayton has to be competitive.

"We have no excuses this year."

After just a few days of drills, including a 6:30 a.m. Saturday practice session to accommodate players still busy with harvest late last month, the team already showed great progress, Bickelhaupt says.

It helps to have so many extra eyes on the players from assistant coaches Bickelhaupt recruited after being named coach-in-chief this spring. Aside from Fullerton, the rest of the staff includes former head coach Joe Anderson and three others with some past training years under their belts: Jeremy Trump, Lance Ross and Chris Smith.

With that much attention, it's hard for the boys to slack off. In the past, the team has only had two assistant coaches.

Bickelhaupt uses a motivational approach to creating team unity, which he fosters through team clapping, yelling and short slogans that get them fired up, such as "TEAM," "PRIDE," "HEART," "WORK" and "FULL SPEED." The emotional meaning of the shout "HEART," which refers to the late Groomer's reputation as a player with "the heart of a lion," isn't lost on the boys who live in his spirit by pulling for each other.

At a recent practice session, it was obvious teammates had nothing but encouragement for each other. For one, senior Dalton "Big D" Donohue, a tower of a player who struggled with the pace of the "FINISH STRONG" angle pursuit drill, was brought in back to the line with plenty of supportive hollering.

A better team spirit is one of the ways Bickelhaupt hopes to keep the Bulldogs together this year. Last year, they suffered from the loss of nearly half the players by the end of the season through poor grades, disciplinary challenges and injuries.

The team began the fall with 30 players and had only 18 left during the last five games.

In one novel attempt to try to keep up the boys' grades, Bickelhaupt has enlisted the help of volunteer Sheri DePaulo (sp), who plans to assist some of the players with their homework in the field house during practices. The goal in being so near the sights and sounds of the other players is to inspire the struggling ones to do better or miss on the action on the field.

"That way, they'll think to themselves, 'Wow, I got to be out there,'" Bickelhaupt says.

2010 Bulldogs

2 Amar Al-Kohlani 3 Garett Turner 6 Guy Spalinger 7 Colton Bickelhaupt 9 Johnnie Sanchez 10 Wyatt Frame 11 Isaiah Lambert 12 Dain Henderson 13 Riley Stevens 20 Josh Frame 21 Ryan Proctor 22 Hayden Fullerton 25 Dakota Hayes 35 Lowden Smith 40/66 Mike Gatlin 30 Joey Schlachter 44 Kane Hackett 50 Trasx Rawlings 51 Dalton Donohue 52 Logan Hayes 56 Tommy Fletcher 59 Jacob Weeden 60 Cruz Ramirez 62/33 Albert Yacovelli 65 Kroft Sunderland 67 Chris Conley 70 Alex Naylor 72 Patrick Trainor 74 Chase Sapp 75 Tim Alznauer 76 Chris McAfee 99 Brandon Clark

Head Coach: Dean Bickelhaupt.

Assistant Coaches: Greg Fullerton, Joe Anderson, Jeremy Trump, Lance Ross and Chris Smith.

Managers: Tayven Seney, Brandon Massey, Cal Martin and Colby Sunderland.