Dixon looks to keep playoff streak going

In the midst of an unprecedented run of success, the Dixon football team now is looking to take the next step.

After qualifying for the playoffs in each of the last nine seasons the postseason had been held, the Dukes are looking to extend that streak this season – and make a deep run into November.

“State championship, man. That’s what our goal is,” senior lineman Tyler Zepezauer said. “We all want it, and we think we can get it this year. It’s just hammer and nail; one nail comes up and we just hammer it down. Nothing less than that.”

Dixon had just five playoff appearances in program history before 2014, but has nearly doubled that total in the last decade. The Dukes advanced to the postseason in each of the last six seasons of Dave Smith’s tenure, and in each of the first three full seasons under Jared Shaner (the playoffs were not held in the 2020-21 COVID-altered season).

The key, according to Shaner, is the ability to replace key players who graduate each year.

“This hopefully will be 10 straight years when the playoffs have been held, taking out the COVID year,” Shaner said. “It was the guys on that first team making the playoffs and setting the tone, and it’s just the expectation now. And that’s what good programs do; you learn a group of guys’ names and feel like, ‘How are we ever going to replace these guys?’ and then the next group steps up when it’s their turn.

“Good programs do that year in and year out, and the teams that are good year in and year out have that tradition going. That’s what they do, and it’s hard to get on the field certainly as a sophomore and even your junior year; you’re just behind a good senior who’s put in a lot of time. That’s kind of what we have going, and we’re excited to try and do it again this year.”

At first glance, it looks like the Dukes have a lot to replace. Gone are three-year starting quarterback Tyler Shaner (743 yards and 15 touchdowns rushing, 1,552 yards and 17 TDs passing last year) and leading rusher Aiden Wiseman (1,241 yards, 12 TDs rushing). Receivers Collin Scott (12 catches, 149 yards, TD) and Cort Jacobson (7 catches, 129 yards, 2 TDs) also leave a couple of holes to fill.

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Caption: Dixon’s Tyson Dambman hauls in a touchdown catch early in the second half against Winnebago during their 2023 Week 6 game at A.C Bowers Field in Dixon.

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But Dixon brings back five running backs who saw action last year, led by seniors Devon Wallace and Eli Davidson, and two of its top three receivers from 2023 in Davidson and Tyson Dambman. Cullen Shaner, who led the Dukes in receiving yards last year, is also coming back, but he’ll move to quarterback this fall to replace his older brother.

“We’ve got some guys that will do some good things on offense. Obviously Aiden and Tyler led us statistically, but we’ve got three or four receivers who played a lot last year and were just behind a couple of guys. When you’ve got a kid like Aiden Wiseman, you give him the ball a lot; I see us spreading it out more this year,” coach Shaner said. “We probably don’t have that one guy at the running back position that’s going to run for 1,500 yards, but I think we’re going to be able to get the ball to four, five, six guys that can all make plays for us.

“Tyson’s back, Devon’s back. Landon Knigge didn’t get a ton of time on offense last year, just because he was behind Aiden, but he was a starter on defense all year and was a great kick returner for us. And Cullen will be just fine at quarterback. He played there up until his sophomore year, when he moved to receiver and started playing on the varsity. We’re going to have to have some guys step up on the O-line, because we lost some seniors from last year’s team.”

Leading the way in the trenches will be Zepezauer and fellow seniors Aidan Hoggard, Will Howard, Peyton Dingley and John Godbold. They all got solid varsity experience last year, and they’ve also been impressed with the level of commitment shown by the younger players.

“We’re definitely rolling deep this year. We’ve got some experience, and we’ve also got a lot of young guys coming up to varsity. We’re looking fast, we’re looking disciplined,” Zepezauer said. “A lot of linemen were working hard every day. Surprisingly, a lot of freshmen came out early in the offseason working hard, just getting in their reps. Everyone’s involved, everyone’s a part of the team, everyone wants it. And that’s what makes a winning team.”

Zepezauer and Davidson both credited last year’s senior class with setting an example that will help this year’s seniors be leaders on and off the field.

“That was a big senior group and they were good; those guys made a lot of plays for us. But we’re returning a lot more starters than maybe it feels like. You get out here and look around on the defensive end and I see a lot of familiar faces from last year. We’re just really excited to be back out here,” Davidson said. “We’re a close group; last year’s was a close group, and I think we really picked that up from them. They really showed us how to be a good team and how to play together. So we’re trying to carry that on this year, and I think we’re ready to go. We’ve got a lot of experience and we’re ready to put that to good use.”

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Caption: Dixon’s Caleb Carlson (34) and John Godbold (51) chase Rock Falls’ Korbin Oligey (26) on the opening kickoff during their 2023 game at A.C. Bowers Field in Dixon.

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Dixon returns eight starters on defense, led by last year’s leading tackler Davidson. In fact, the Dukes bring back seven of their top nine tacklers from a year ago, and have experience all three levels.

“We’ve got talent across the board, at every position on both sides of the ball,” Davidson said. “We’ve got guys who should be out there on the field playing varsity football who are going to be standing on the sideline, and that depth is a good problem to have. It makes these preseason practices really competitive, and we’re making each other better everyday. We’ve got a lot of talent, and it’s just a matter of finding where it lands at each spot. Kids are trying out different spots and seeing where everybody fits.”

Part of the fuel feeding Dixon’s fire comes from last year’s heartbreaking finish. Even after a 9-2 record, the Dukes – who outscored their opponents 416-211 last year – felt like they let their second-round playoff game slip away, and that’s left a bad taste in their mouths all offseason.

Dixon lost 31-21 to St. Laurence in a game where it had the ball at the 4-yard line trailing 24-21 midway through the third quarter. But the Dukes couldn’t put points on the board, and three plays later, St. Laurence broke off a 77-yard touchdown run to essentially ice the game.

St. Laurence went on to finish second in Class 4A, losing the title game to Rochester. Being that close to the state runners-up not only gives the Dukes motivation, but confidence as well.

“That stings; right now even talking about it, it’s tough. But that’s fueling this right now. It’s why we come out here everyday and work our tails off, why we’re not taking any reps off,” Davidson said. “It was just two or three plays that made the difference in losing that [playoff] game, so we know that every rep counts. It’s really fueling us to dig deep and understand that inches matter. In that game, we were a couple of inches away from maybe beating the team that went on to finish second in the state, so it really puts things in perspective, and we’re not taking it for granted.”