HD-CAL’s senior class fights hard in .500 season

Hampton-Dumont-CAL football finished the season .500.

It was a hard fought season for the Bulldogs, who aimed to focus on the smaller details.

Coach Cole Miller said that his coaching staff work to build up young men, as well as good players.

“This team worked their tails off all season long, and it started this summer when we were finally able to get together as a team to begin football workouts,” he said.

The score didn’t always indicate that hard work, but HD-CAL kept competitive through most of the season.

The offense was led by senior Cal Heeran.

Heeran stepped up as quarterback this season posting 1,472 yards passing and 17 touchdowns. Heeran had 65.4 percent completion and nine interceptions.

“I think his success started with having a better understanding in not only of what we were asking him to do offensively, but also in what the defense was trying to do to stop us,” Miller said.

A solid offensive line helped Heeran stay upright and pick apart defenses.

Heeran managed to spread the wealth to a number of players

“His knowledge of the game was a huge improvement that I saw from two seasons ago to this one,” Miller said.

His top target was senior Tate Schmitt, who pulled in 43 catches for 680 yards and 11 touchdowns.

The running game also leaned on two strong ball carriers in senior Logan Pfeffer and junior Marco Guerrero.

Pfeffer rushed for 429 yards and four touchdowns.

Guerrero had 458 yards and five touchdowns.

Guerrero also had 293 yards receiving and two additional touchdowns.

Pfeffer also anchored the defense with 63 total tackles and nine tackles for losses.

Miller said Pfeffer had only one gear.

Pfeffer would put 100 percent into every play.

Schmitt had 40.5 and eight tackles for a loss.

Schmitt was a quintessential leader who would make sure his teammates are doing well and are prepared.

Sophomore Gavin Meader had 42 tackles.

The defense had seven fumble recoveries and 12 interceptions.

Junior Will Sackville lead the team with four interceptions.

“Coach Jeromy Keehn did a great job coming up with a game plan that put our kids in positions to be successful and making sure that our kids were ready to execute when put into those positions,” Miller said. “They played confidently and aggressively which I think led to them being able to create turnovers.”

The team will have a number of holes to fill with 16 seniors graduating this year.

That includes their offensive leaders in Heeran, Pfeffer and Schmitt.

“Schematically, I can't say what we might look like next season, but I expect our players to work hard and compete every opportunity that they get just like our varsity team did this past season,” Miller said. I expect [Marco Guerrero] to step into more of a leadership role in the offseason, making sure that kids are putting in the work that they should be while putting in the work himself.”