So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye

Howdy friends,

I apologize for dropping the ball this last month or so. There were a few factors that lead to Nick and me not blogging regularly — namely school work and the losses — but another big factor, at least for me, was that my life as a football player was coming to an end and each blog I wrote forced me to confront that fact in some way or another. Instead of thinking about how it was almost over, I chose to focus on enjoying my last few weeks. But now my football career is officially a former career and I cannot ignore it anymore. So lets blog!

What was there to write after our Chatman loss? I felt good about the game, our D did a lot of good things and lined up and executed better than we had all year, our offense made some plays…but we also made two huge mistakes on defense, our special teams wasn’t very good, and our offense couldn’t punch it in the end zone on a couple 4th quarter drives. And we lost…again.

What was there to write after our Claremont game? It was our homecoming game, I had several family members come to watch me all the way from Texas, our defense was extremely solid in the first half…but we weren’t in the second half. CMS moved the ball slowly but surely on the ground keeping the ball away from our offense and pounding our D. And we lost…again.

The Cal Lu game? totally different. That was the most fun I’ve had playing football since our comeback OT win vs Redlands last year. I loved it. CLU was 7-1, had ran all over #4 ranked Linfield, and has a gigantic offensive line and several DI transfers who are great athletes. We were missing 4 starters on defense including two team captains…but we didn’t care. They ran through us on the first drive but after that we forced them to punt or turn it over on downs for every single one of their drives until giving up a field goal late in the 2nd qtr. Our offense had a lot of 3-and-outs but our punt team played great and kept the Kingsmen back on their side of the 50 and the defense held solid. 10-0 at half. The second half was the same story, horrible first drive, fantastic rest of the game. Nobody ever pointed fingers or complained about another side of the ball. We just did our job, hit hard, and played with enthusiasm. We ended up losing 24-0 and they had some good stats, but anyone who was at that game knows that Cal Lu had a heck of a hard time moving the ball on Saturday.

Oxy custom has the seniors each address the team one at a time after their last game. During my time speaking to the team (No I didn’t cry! I’m a manly man who would cry about football? not me…no way…) I thanked them for their effort this one last time and for once again playing football in the Oxy way. While the score was not Oxy football, the effort, execution, and attitude were there on defense and I was reminded of our #9 nationally ranked team in 2008. So while the whole year didn’t go how we wanted (understatement), I loved my last game.

Another Oxy custom is to get together the week after our last game and have the offensive and defensive lineman compete in a punt-catching contest. They always come dressed as fly as possible and put on a good show, especially Alex Josephs haha quite a character he is.

Seniors Nick Danielson (right, wearing Luke Collis’ jersey) and Brandon Ortega pose for a quick pic.

One of the more chic freshman,Brian Magnuson, sports a cape during the competition.

After being called out by the offense, freshman D Lineman Jordan Diaz lines up one more time…and one more time he makes an outstanding catch after misjudging the flight of the ball. Definitely the D’s MVP of the punt catching day, catching all 3 of his punts with style. Closest to the screen on the right is freshman Nathanial Ziomeck, wearing South Park boxers as part of his uni.

Sr. Alex Josephs with a diving effort. Of course he wore some professional wrestling boxers over his compression shorts. “A-Tox” loves pro wrestling and MMA so much he brings his lap top everywhere and in any spare second watches matches and fights he downloads. And I mean everywhere, half time of every game there he is with his lap top watching matches. He’s also been to 98 wrestling shows this year and plans on making it 100. He even goes to tiny shows hours away with like only 100 people there. Dude loves wrestling.

Who doesn’t love some good ol’ fashioned peer pressure? After chanting his name a few times Coach Sorrells, our OL coach, and Coach Kleckler, one of our Defensive coaches, fielded punts as well. Sorrells is pictured above before his attempt. Another win for the defense here! Clean sweep!

I am not sure about the future of the blog from here on out but hopefully the program will find another kid to keep it going and hopefully it is entertaining for you guys. Thanks to everyone who followed the team whether you made it to every game in person, watched online, or read post game articles. A very special thanks to all the parents and students who helped out with the post-game tail gates, seriously the team appreciates that more than you will ever know. And of course thank you for reading,

Take it easy,

Dillon

Redlands a lot – Oxy not very much

I don’t think anyone will mind if we basically skip the blog this weak. There really isn’t much to say from my end. Here is Tracy Maple’s typically solid game report if you would like to read up a little about the specifics. The score tells the whole story. Redlands is a good football team, we made some early mistakes, they capitalized on those mistakes, we made some more mistakes, then they made some more plays. They played much more physically than us. They beat us. We still have good players. We still have good coaches. We still even have a chance to make the playoffs. But Oxy alum Jim Mora knows how to respond of anyone mentioning the playoffs around here right now. We just need to focus on Chatman.

Everyone always says the same things after a loss because everyone always knows what to do after a loss. Now we just have to go out and do it. Starting today.

Thanks for reading, everyone,

take it easy,

Dillon

Oxy 39 – Pomona/Pitzer 26

While the Redlands and Cal Lu weeks of each season feel as if we are preparing for the conference championship game, for me, Pomona-Pitzer week carries close to the same degree of anxious anticipation. Sure, I know it’s going to be a battle on the field, and a loss to the Sagehens probably knocks us out of playoff contention, but the prospect of staring across the line and seeing my closest friend glaring back at me remains on the forefront of my mind.

After playing next to each other for our first eight years of football, we met as adversaries for one final skirmish on Saturday. Charles Sander III rocks the #3 jersey and starts at Linebacker for the Sagehens.

Saturday night’s rivalry started ideally as the Tiger offense drove 60 yards in five plays for the first score of the game. Although I’d like to report our initial touchdown as being my first in a Tiger uniform, RB Wes McDaniel received credit for the goal line score, one play after I got tackled on the 1 yard-line to cap a 40 yard Luke Collis completion. Later in the first half, I was running down on our kickoff unit and failed to see a blocker flying across the field to deliver a knockout shot. Team doctors held me out of the second half as a precaution for a possible head injury.

Although the rest of the game was a bit of a blur, I distinctly remember hearing multiple onlookers nicknaming the contest “The Dillon Tucker Show.” As the spearhead of our strongest Special Teams performance of the season, the senior captain was in on multiple tackles, and returned a blocked Pomona-Pitzer extra point for Oxy’s third defensive two-point conversion in as many years (Watch the video here). Dillon didn’t stop with Special Teams however, as he registered at least six defensive tackles from the Safety position and one huge interception return for touchdown (See additional DT43 Highlight). He now owns the lead over me in career touchdowns scored. For more on Saturday’s game, read Tracy Maple’s article. Also, check out Freshman Safety, Jordan Lance’s sweet Punt Block.

Here, Dillon proves to many skeptical Pomona-Pitzer players that the legendary “Drum” does indeed exist, even though not a single player on their roster has ever touched it.

As I mentioned before, the Redlands game is one of two that may as well be regarded a SCIAC Championship game for both teams. Although we do not look to win an ancient war drum or a golden pair of cleats, this week’s rivalry has a lot more at stake than a mere void in the trophy case…

Road Win #1: Oxy 30 @ LaVerne 0

Last week’s showdown in LaVerne marks the first time this season the Tigers have put together a solid effort in all facets of the game. The defense posted their first shutout, while the offense came out of the gates hot, scoring two touchdowns in the first quarter and a total of 23 points in the first half. For a comprehensive game summary, feel free to check out Tracy Maple’s article.

Personally, I sat this one out with a leg injury that I suffered early in the Whittier game. As bummed as I was to be sidelined for the week, it gave me a chance to appreciate some aspects of the Tiger program that I had previously overlooked. I brought my camera to the game to help keep my mind off my injury, as well as to gather something noteworthy to share with our loyal readers.

Adam DiBenedetto, Greg Holsworth, and Justin Garza examine the conditions of LaVerne’s grass field after a week of scattered Southern California showers… Made us thankful for our brand new field turf.

After spending a significant portion of the last two weeks trying to get healthy in the training room, I could not be more thankful for our amazing medical staff. Pictured here, Laura Friess prepares All-American, Alex Wertheimer, to hit the field and make LaVerne’s training staff a whole heck of a lot busier.

Luke Collis, Will Richmond, Ryan Nastor and John Sarris keep the atmosphere light before heading out to the field for business.

Offensive mastermind, Coach Stephen Sorrells gets in some last minute blocking assignment review with his squad of savage O-Linemen.

John Sarris, Kevin Nagy, and Josh Mun practice some pregame field goals as Coach Eric Bergstrom looks on.

I’ll leave you with a link to a recent LA Times article about the Occidental-Pomona/Pitzer rivalry. The featured picture shows “The Drum” and “The Shoes” collecting dust in their home among Oxy’s plaques and trophies.

Oxy 25 – Whittier 22

Greetings Tiger Fans,

Victory! That’s all that matters. We are 1-0 in SCIAC play, 2-1 on the year, and nearly all of our players that were healthy coming into the Whittier game came out of it the same way. However, much like 2007, we came into the game thinking we would be in control of the game from the start but quickly found ourselves in the middle of a dog fight. One thing I have learned over the years is that whatever else has happened, you can never write-off the Poets…

That said, we definitely did not play the way we had hoped we would or the way we had planned to. Too many penalties, too many mental mistakes, too many miscues.We tried some new stuff in the secondary that worked very well but we had trouble lining up correctly a few times. We were very solid in coverage and our run fits were solid as well, but we need to be in the right position on every snap and that did not happen.

But hey, when you are down 17-22 in the fourth quarter you have to forget everything else that has happened and make plays. Once again, it all comes back to playing Oxy Football and we did it again Saturday night. A couple of big drives by the offense and big stops by the defense later, we are celebrating with our trophy on the sidelines talking about our victory. Heck of a lot better than playing extremely well and losing I’ll tell you that much. For a more in-depth look, here is the one and only Tracy Maple’s write up on the game.

I know our team has the players to be very very good on all sides of the ball, so once we get everything settled down and start executing we could have something here. But for now, it’s back to the practice field to prepare for La Verne. Last year we beat them by one point so I fully expect another dogfight this week.

I’ve got a special treat for you this week, photos courtesy of Wendy Hansbrough.

Jr. WR Bobby Phillips with the game’s first TD. Now that’s what I call Poetry in motion…

Jr. DBs Ayrton Bates and John Hansbrough slappin’ hands.

QB Luke Collis and RB Ryan “Nasty” Nastor doin’ work.

The man pictured above literally stacking a couple of Whitter offensive lineman on top of each other is Sr. DL Brandon Ortega. He is a strong person.

Sr. OLB Todd Mark with the nice open-field tackle.

Sr. DB Me with the stop and Jr. LB Greg Holsworth giving me a hand.

Sr. OL Nick Danielson and Fr. WR Chandler “Don’t call me Wilkinson” Tunney celebrating another Touchdown.

Me showing off my astounding coordination and grace as I fall over after deflecting a pass.

Greg Holsworth and Jr. DB Nate Proulx about to pun-ish the Poet QB…

The Oxy O-Line is a line that no Poet wants to ever see again.

Nasty on the move again. I’ll forgive him, Wes, and the other RBs for bumping so much Gucci Mane and Waka Flocka in the locker room if they keep playing like they did on Saturday.

Nick making Hector proud and hoisting THA SHOOOOOOOOOO-

-OOOOOOOOOOEEESSSS!!!

Take it easy,

Dillon

Bye-Bye, Bye Weeks

Howdy Y’all

Today, I just received a fresh cut and was returning to my car when a nice, clean cut, well dressed, calm man began to speak to me. Only he spoke really fast and it was about his divine mission to kill aliens who were incarnations of evil spirits on Earth. Little things like this are why I enjoy being in L.A. so much. They keep you on your toes. After talking for a few uncomfortable minutes about about evil aliens and shining a light in his hat to read a scripture that did not appear to be there, he of course asked me for a dollar. I said no and he grew angry and yelled at me about hating poor people and Spanish people. I was pretty weirded out by this man but ultimately knew he was as harmless as the next guy and this encounter was nothing but entertaining for me.

That encounter also keeps things in perspective. This has been an unusual year for Oxy football, but not nearly as unusual as that guy.

Anyways…

As Nick mentioned, the team has been on bye weeks the last 14 days and will not play until this saturday against Whittier. This has been anything but a relaxing week and is more like another training camp than a week to rest up. We had conditioning every day, lifted much more heavily, and had some longer practices than usual. But something I love about this school is that the coaches kept mixing it up to keep everything fun. It is routine now for the coaches to bet push-ups, up-downs, or gassers on the result of a situational drive (ex. offense has to score a TD, ball on their own 40 yd line, 1:40 left, one timeout). Whoever loses has to endure the laughter of the other side of the ball as they pay their dues in the form of sprints or what-not. This keeps practice competitive and the intensity a little higher.

Another good example was when one day, in the middle of end-of-practice-conditioning, the coaches told each position group from the offense and defense to send their fastest player up to them (one kid each from DBs and WRs, one each from the OL and DL, etc). We naturally assumed we they would race, but the twist was that as soon as they got up there the coaches said that whichever representative did the least amount of push-ups in 30 seconds had to run sprints with his whole group (if the WR did less than the DB then all the WRs would have to run 110s). The offense controversially won every matchup so the D ran, but that was okay because I assume the offense was pretty tired after always running after team periods ;-). Yesterday, our last practice before getting Friday and Saturday off, the coaches had the OL and DL do one-on-one goal line routes and the skill groups do one-on-one pass rush. It was like pee-wee football all over again and once again there was some great competition and we had a great time.

This off weekend is especially good for me because I just turned in 3 essays in the last two days so between football and school I have hardly had any free time to just chill. Which I will start doing…right about now.

Thanks for reading yous guys,

Hector

Back On Track

After our Week One letdown, the Tigers entered UPS week both humbled and hungry for redemption. Although many mistakes were made and the result was disappointing, the Menlo game allowed a number of guys (including myself) to complete their first full game of Division III college football play. Offensively, three of our four starting receivers, as well as our quarterback, took their first snaps as Tigers. Luke Collis started at QB and suffered an injury in the first quarter that failed to knock him out of the game, but kept him from preparing for and playing against the University of Puget Sound in Week Two.

Over the course of the past week, the team increased its focus, as well as its conditioning, as we ran a very healthy amount in the early portion of the week. The hard work showed as we defeated the Loggers, from Tacoma, WA, 44-14. Sophomore QB Ryan Rodriguez stepped up to fill in for the injured Collis and had himself a quality outing, throwing for over 200 yards and three touchdowns. Matt Tuckness proved to be a reliable target for the second consecutive week, while Nate Sullivan posted 123 receiving yards along with his first two collegiate touchdowns. The defense showed their true colors, allowing only 14 points on 42 UPS rushing yards. See Tracy Maple’s online article (HERE) to read more about Cody Remmick, Ryan Nastor and all the other men who lit up the scoreboard on Saturday night.

Josh Mun showcased his golden leg all evening. (Photo courtesy of Wendy Hansbrough)

Oxy Football now enters a grueling two-week stretch of gameless weekends, but the timing could not be better. We will likely continue to condition hard along with picking up the intensity in the weightroom while allowing our wounded members to regain their strength for upcoming SCIAC Conference play. The coaches generously gave the team Monday off, and while I half regret not joining teammates at the beach, I spent the blissfully cloudless day reading/studying/napping poolside.

Taylor Pool... Not more than 100 yards from our locker room.

Menlo 42 – Oxy 25

When the going gets tough…

Howdy good readers,

Our game last night did not go too well. Our inexperience in certain areas showed up and Menlo did a great job of minimizing our defensive strengths and diagnosing and exposing our defensive weaknesses. Personally, that was one of the worst games I have played in my entire life. I had an awfully hard time with run fits, tackling, and I allowed an awkward touchdown lob. Although I am not particularly proud of my performance, I am proud of the way the team responded at one point. Down 28-17 late in the 4th qtr, our defense forced a 3 and out featuring a great play by DE Casey Shibuya, Luke hit WR Bobby Phillips for a 56 yd TD, we tallied a 2-point conversion to pull within 3, and we got another quick stop by the defense giving our offense a chance to take the lead or tie late in the game. That resiliency is what Oxy football is all about to me. Although we didn’t come through and Menlo scored a couple late TDs to pull away, we did not back down. A lot of players who had hardly sniffed the field stepped up huge and other players like Alex Wertheimer picked up right where they left off last season.

This was definitely not the result we wanted, but sure enough, the sun still rose today. We have film sessions in an hour and a half, will identify what we did wrong (ex. me not tackling people), and get ready for Puget Sound who already have more wins this season than all of last year so they are clearly much improved. I am physically beat up, as are many of my fellow Tigers, but some masochistic part of me is glad. The physical pain is a reminder of what we endured last night, and will remain a constant reminder all week during practice. I will do all I can to make sure I don’t have a repeat performance. And I know our whole team will as well.

Because one thing I have learned during my 3+ years at Occidental is that when the going gets tough, Oxy gets going.

Thanks for reading, any questions or comments are welcome.

Take it easy,

Dillon

Deep in the Heart of Practice

Salutations good people,

The past couple of weeks have been pretty eventful for me: I ended my internship at Biscuit, thus becoming unemployed once again and rendering myself incapable of saying “the place I work at did that” when a Biscuit commercial comes on TV; made my national television debut on “Shaq Vs,” playing the idiot in a yellow shirt in the stands; went to the beach for the first time all summer; have been milling over my ECLS senior comps research paper topic that must be finalized the second day of classes (in 8 days); and one of the best summers of my life has come to an end.

…oh ya and football camp started up!

Woo Hooooooo!!!!!!!!!!

This will be my senior year and we have the players, coaches, and system to be very successful. If we can stay healthy, consistently perform around our peak, and play Tiger Football, then this truly will be “The Year of The Tiger.”

Things were a bit sloppy joe at first, as is to be expected in the first few practices, but we are making great strides and showing glimpses of what this group will be capable of come September. Our first practice was Sunday, August 15 and classes start on Wednesday, September 1. In between those days we will be in full time football mode. Gonzalo Villasmil, who suffered a minor injury recently and could not participate in practice, was kind enough to snap a few photos for us last week. As you may have seen in Nick’s last entry, Gonzo is not only a skilled photographer, but also a mohawk/mullethawk extraordinaire! He is a man of many talents, and the following photos are evidence to that.

Back to back weeks for a Luke Collis shout out! This very hairy man is a transfer QB from Nevada. His highlights from camp include making my fellow DBs and me look foolish from time to time in addition to making himself look foolish with a Fu-Man-Chu-like beard thing. The above pic was taken of the not-so-stylish quarterback warming up before practice with TE Mark Schu looking on in intense concentration.

The above picture features Luke & Friends lined up and trying to crack the unsolvable riddle that is the Oxy Blackshirt Defense. Our practices feature several periods of 11 on 11 which keep things fun and moving fast.

Jr. CB Ayrton Bates and Soph. WR Matt Tuckness going head to head on the edge. I’m looking for big things from both of these guys this coming season.

The offensive sideline during practice. Featured in the photo is Ryan Nastor, who played here his freshman year before transferring and has returned this season after playing elsewhere. He was electric in ’07 and should be once again in ’10.

Pictured above are youngin’s Chandler Tunney and Will Richmond looking at a piece of paper during practice for some reason.

Hey look, kids, its our good friend Nick (#22, stage left)! Also pictured is All-SCIAC OL Nick Danielson (big guy, stage right). Something else I like about this pic is the beautiful blue California sky. After playing in the Texas heat all my life, I truly appreciate a place where 87 is considered hot and a bad weather day means you can actually see clouds in the sky.

Sr. LB Kyle Spaulding looking out over the end of practice stretches.

Our days in camp are almost completely filled with football. We have team meals, film sessions, practices, walkthroughs, team events (bonding stuff like movies or swimming competitions), practices, and practices. But this year we have had much more free time than in years past. I truly enjoy having a few free hours in between football activities to do as I please. Pictured below is Jr. Safety John Hansbrough doing pretty much what we all do during said down time.

I apologize for getting this post up so late but my ongoing computer problems (my lap top was pronounced dead by a Toshiba rep last week, I am currently waiting on a new comp. I bought of Ebay) make it difficult to stay on top of this guy. But have no fear, school starts soon so the library will be open 24/7 and blogging will be much easier. Not to mention my new computer should be here this week.

Anyways, thank you for reading and stay tuned. We’re playing football against Menlo in 9 days!!!!!

Any comments, compliments, and complaints suggestions are appreciated.

Take it easy,

Dillon

 

New Look for the Tigers

Dillon was not far off in connecting our first team function of the 2010 season (landing on Friday the 13^th) with the Tigers being a “scary team” this year. Beach Day came and went without the appearance of any knife wielding masked men, yet the day did end up producing some of the most gruesome haircuts I have seen since the 90’s. Allow me to preface what is to follow by saying that the NCAA has rigid policies in place against hazing of any sort, and this team prides itself on making the transition as painless as possible for its newest members. Along those lines, many of us made our way to one of Highland Park’s finest barbershops during this past week before camp in order to receive classy new Mohawks.

After returning from the beach for a delicious team barbecue, we then left it open for all in attendance to decide whether or not they wanted their ears lowered for camp. Several of the returning players volunteered to let the skilled team barbers warm-up on them before the new guys hopped in the chair. I don’t know if you’ve seen what the Denver Broncos veterans did to Tim Tebow (see here) for his rookie initiation, but I’d say we had a couple cuts to rival his.

Connor Smith unmasked and out of his cape at Hermosa Beach

Kevin Nagy was the undisputed winner of the "Jared Allen Best Mullet-Hawk Award" with credit to his barber, Gonzo Villasmil, who is known throughout campus for his skills with the trimmer.

It is no stretch of the imagination to note that about half the team now struts the campus looking like some cross between David Beckham and Mr. T. Camp is now in full swing, and I am “geeked up” to see such a dedicated and focused bunch of savages strapping on the helmets in LA heat.

One last thing… After a particularly strong practice on Monday night, Transfer QB, Luke Collis requested that his performance be dedicated to his mother, Margaret, who he tells me is an avid reader of this very blog.