Photo courtesy of Tim May
The Lake Dallas Falcons are coming off of a heart breaking loss against the Canyon Randall Raiders on that bone chilling November night at the Mustang Bowl in Sweetwater, Texas. It was the Raiders that crushed the Falcon dreams of a long play off run, but the Falcons have not forgotten. This year, the Falcons will try to take care of “Unfinished Business.†That is the tag line for the upcoming season. If you have seen one of the many signs that carry that slogan, you can find the score “10-6†etched in the background.
With that added motivation, the Falcons have been working harder than ever to try to avenge their loss to the Raiders and go even further into the playoffs. Since then, the Falcons have had 18 practices in the spring, including a successful spring game. Over the summer, the Falcons 7 on 7 team qualified to go to the state tournament in College Station by finishing in second place at the June 16th Lewisville State Qualifying Tournament. Once they arrived in College Station, they won games over Terry and Edinburg to put themselves in the championship bracket the next day. In the first game of the win-or-go-home bracket play, the Falcons lost in the very final seconds of the game, even further reminding the team of that cold November night in Sweetwater.
That was then, this is now.
The Falcons will head into the season as a refreshed and experienced team, returning 9 starters on offense and 4 on defense. Due to their experience, the Falcons have placed high expectations on themselves. Although, they have endured some losses. For example, the team graduated the entire defensive line, but not to worry Falcon fans, Coach Young expects the Faclon defense to be comparable to what it was last year. That’s a good thing, considering the Falcons finished the season with the 2nd best defense in the district last year behind Denton Ryan. However, the offense will be a different story, Coach Young expects the offense to have a break out year. He attributes the offensive difficulties last year to the simple things, such as route running, catching balls, and protecting the quarterback; but with nine returning starters on offense, they have the potential to have a record breaking year.
The Falcons aren’t just returning players, they are returning play makers. At the quarterback position, football/baseball phenom Dalyn Williams will be returning. This year his job will be much easier with a more solid offensive line and having the whole wide receiving group returning. On the offensive line, the Falcons return big 6’ 6â€, 330 pound junior John Laubacher, who will continue to build off of of a successful season and camp circuit at left guard. Falcon fans shouldn’t worry about about the right side of the line either. Right guard Brandon Charles has also been hitting the summer camps hard. He took home the Offensive Line MVP award at a National Underclassman Combine in Plano. William Medlicott will be in the rotation at right tackle, while also playing on the defensive line. About as rare as seeing Sasquatch, the Falcons will return every starting wide receiver: Mike Jurcak, Tre Dickerson, Tyler Vance, and Ferrando Joseph. All four of those guys have the ability to score a touchdown every time they get the ball. Defensively, the Falcons lost the whole defensive line, but Coach Young expects the defensive line to have even more depth this year. The linebackers should be as strong as ever, returning Daltyn Marchuk and John Parsons at outside linebacker and middle linebacker, respectively. Shut down corner Charles Gowans and hard hitting safety Daveon Parrish are the two returning starters in the secondary.
Not only have the Falcons put high expectations on themselves, but so has the media. Dave Campbell’s Texas Football and The Old Coach magazines have the Falcons finishing 3rd in the district. Considering the enrollment numbers of Lake Dallas High School, a 3rd place finish in district 4-4A behind Denton Ryan and Wichita Falls Rider would put the Falcons as the number one small school seed going into the first round of the playoffs. That would pit the Falcons against the number two small school seed from district 3-4A. Even better, ESPN Dallas has the Falcons ranked as the 9th best 4A team in the metroplex.
Get ready for a deep run in the playoffs Falcon fans!