Larry Jewell

3, 2, 1. I'm talking with Dixie College head football coach Greg Croshaw. And coach, it's nice to have a win under your belt when you have to hit the road again, isn't it? Well, it really is, Larry. Of course, it's pretty nice to have a win no matter what the circumstances. But I thought our guys played well last week and hopefully we can build on that as we go into this October, which we start here at Mesa, and it's going to be a tough month for us. He had a lot of heroes both sides of the football last week. Well, I don't think any question, like I say, when you play well, then usually a lot of guys look good. And of course, when you run the ball that dictates probably the offensive line is doing a nice job, the backs are helping each other out. I thought we threw the ball well. We had completion percentage that wasn't as high as you would like. But some of that's a little misleading because I know three of those incompletions came with about 40 seconds left in the first half and we were trying to get a score and then settle for a field goal. So all in all, I'd say it was a real nice effort offensively. I thought defensively, other than the first drive where they went down and got a score, we played extremely well also. So when you play a game and only allow seven points and get a win, then it's easy to pick a lot of heroes. It wasn't an overwhelming thumping, but it was like you were in control of the game all night after that first drive. Well, and yeah, you know, if we're playing our kind of game, I'm not sure we're going to have a big type score because our game is one that if we do what we want, we'll take five to six, seven, eight minutes off the clock each time we have the ball. And if that's the case, obviously the other offense is not on the field during that time. And of course then the game goes by pretty quick. So if you can do what we try to do, I think an ideal game for us is probably in the middle 20s to low 30s because of the amount of time you run off the clock. You got great balance running and passing well. And that's what we try to do. I guess like I say, anytime you take the ball field, you need to try to take advantage of what the opponent gives you. And I thought we established our run extremely well last week. And then of course, if that's the case, then the Passing lanes become open and you're able to do a little bit of everything. And I think that's pretty much the case. And I thought we also did a nice job with the kicking game, which is going to be critical here tonight. Doug Lemons is coming into his own, getting stronger every week. Well, no question, Doug's a fine kicker, young guy out of Clearfield. Of course, they won the state championship, so he's got some great abilities. And, you know, it's been good because we haven't had to put him in a situation where he kicking field goals for wins or anything right at the end. And his confidence is built and I think likewise, so is ours as a team and a coaching staff. You mentioned the kicking game. Let's talk about Veha Offa, your punter. He doesn't go great distance, but he seems to be accurate. Well, and that's been a, you know, that's been a tough thing for us because we lost Jason Vowles, who started out as our punter and really who we had counted on being the punter. He tore a quadricep muscle and looks like he's gone for the year. So that, you know, that really put some dampers on us. We early in the year, at the start of the year, we had started out with Roger Cook as the backup punter and of course Roger hurt his right leg on a. So now we were really in trouble. And then it looked like Shawn Meyer was going to be our punter and lo and behold, he sprains his right ankle. So really we're down to number four. And Vea has done a good job having been put in that position. He gets it off, seems to have some pretty good hang time and there's not a lot of real good form involved in it, but he's got certainly a strong enough leg. He can keep us out of a hole. He's had some interesting bounces this year. Well, he really has. And like I say that the way it comes off his foot without being the spiral, sometimes it looks like a wedge shot and sucks back and sometimes it kicks straight right or left. You don't know really what's going to happen or what to anticipate, but I think he's done a good job, like I say, for being thrown into the fire the way he was. Let's talk about that offensive line. It was double tough last week. Well, no question, Gordon Jolly does an outstanding job year in and year out with those offensive linemen. We've had to build this line out of. I don't Think I want to say scraps, but, you know, they've done a great job. When you lose a guy like Brian Veazey with the wrist surgery and you lose Big Tom Brown and, you know, Kalana Kanako on a car wreck, three of those guys were gone that we really were counting on before we ever started the season. So I think the thing it's really, we've had to play with some young guys. They've done a real job. And the thing that's really a concern is that there's not a whole lot of depth. When you take three quality guys out of there, you're lucky to have six or seven or eight good offensive linemen. And I think Gordon's done a great job with that group and hopefully they'll stay healthy. Jeff Anderson coming off a mission has given us some maturity in there along with Greg Allen from last year's team. And then there's three freshmen. So they've done a great job. And I think Darrell Larson has helped on that offensive line also as a tight end. You're talking about the freshman. Wade Platz has done an outstanding job at center. Well, Wade Platz, and he's never played center before. We just kind of threw him in there because we were totally counting on Brian Veazey and he made that adjustment. He's done a nice job. Soma Haylou's playing with a real tender back and he's done a nice job at tackle. And so those guys, you know, have really helped us. And then at the other guard, of course, we have Greg Allen, as we talked about a sophomore back. And then, see, I'm having trouble remembering who the other guard is, but they've done an outstanding job for us and Gordon's really got them playing well. Troy Gemma was the offensive player. No wonder I can't think of it. Yeah, Troy's of course, the young man who was the offensive player of the week and who was recruited by Henry Bloomfield out in the Mission Field and came in in the springtime. And those guys really come together and that's, I think, a real credit to them. And like I say, also to Coach Jolly. Talk about Mesa. This has usually been a hard hitting, very close ball game between these two. Well, no question, a lot of great tradition. Mesa, you know, we're stand out here and we look up at the sign on the, up on the press box and they've won a couple three national championships and WSFL title and of course the Arizona Conference. They've got great tradition. They have a lot of real Quality athletes and we've had, whether style wise or whatever, but we've had some real battles with them right down to the end. We've been fortunate to win our share and of course they theirs. And it's been a game that I think, you know, we've looked forward to year in and year out because you always know it's going to be a hard fought, well played ball game and I hope that kind of game continues. What has David Rice done at Mesa that the other coaches have not done? Well, I don't know. You know, he's changed. His philosophy is a little different than the guys who preceded him in that he's a one back set trying to throw it kind of a coach, which seems to be the trend around the country now. A lot of people go into that wide open offense and, and he's a young, I think, second year head coach and so that's the kind of a program he's decided to put in. On defense they're very similar to what they've been in the past where they play with an eight man front and try to take away the run and make you throw the ball. And the reason they're able to do that is they've had quality athletes year in and year out in the secondary that can match up and play some man to man coverage. That puts a lot of stress on your defensive secondary too. If they're going to open things up a little bit. Well, no question you have to play good solid coverage back there. But as important or more important than that is the rush. You have to be able to rush the passer and I think that's a real key. If you can put just normal type pressure and occasionally get a big rush on there and come up with a sack or two and put them in long yardage situations, then you've got a chance. But if they're able to hold out your pass rush and the quarterback half time then about anybody in college football will be able to throw the ball to receivers when they're running around wide open. And that'll happen as much because of time given the quarterback as anything. You're missing one of your top defensive backs, Jason Duckworth? Well, unfortunately we are. And then a guy that not only is a fine player but a great leader. Jason, first team all league player three years ago, unfortunately hurt his knee and is going to have surgery on Tuesday. So you know, we're going to have to play without him for the rest of the year and we're just going to have to make some adjustments. And one of them we made is taking a quarterback. Adam Lagon moved him over there and he's looked pretty good in practice. We'll just have to test him now during the game time situation. Let's talk about your ball club specifically. Injury wise, we know about Jason Duckworth and Jason Bell. Are there any other key players that are gone? Well, not that are gone, you know, other than the ones we mentioned on the offensive line which came before the season. So, you know, we can't worry about that. But we've had Archie Emerson and Dino Glover of both missed two or three days of practice each week. Archie with pulled groin and Dino with a pulled hamstring. They've been able to come when it's game time and play and I certainly hope that that can continue. Other than that, of course, Paul Cotoa I'm not sure has played 100% yet and he's a real leader for us. But he's had some real gutty performances in the last two ball games. Playing on a knee that's tender but not to the point where it's operable like a Duckworth. So I think those are the guys and that's normal. As you get into mid season, you're going to have to have guys that play with some bumps and bruises. Sean Myers, he's going to be not with you this week? Well, that's right. I forgot about Shawn. He sprained an ankle which we talked about earlier and is responding well to treatment. I hope he'll be back next week, but he's not here for this ball game. Any changes in the starting lineup tonight? Not that I know of other than, you know, Sean's out and Sidney Halew will play. We're going to have to play, I think some nickel and dime type packages in the secondary. So there may be a defensive back or two come in there in place of a lineman or a linebacker. But starting out, we should be pretty much on the same page. The key tonight, the pass rush. Well, I think, you know, I think Larry, week in and week out as we talk and you, you look at keys, I think field position, if we're able to play a ball game similar to last week where you don't turn the ball over, then that means that every time the other team gets the ball they're having to drive quite a ways and you know, that's a real advantage and I think anytime you can do that, turnovers, field position and those things play a real key. And then on the field I think pass rush will determine and our ability to run our offense and hopefully keep Mesa's passing attack on the sideline will be a big, big part of the ball game. Also, do you like playing these games where it's pretty evenly matched over the history of the series? Oh, yeah. You know, I think every week is, to me, every week is a challenge. We've been very fortunate to have some wins over a couple of the teams lopsided in our favor, but I don't think the games have been necessarily lost lopsided. And in this league, in this caliber of football, I think week in and week out, every one of them is a challenge and exciting, and that's really what you prepare for and what you're looking forward to. Coach Greg Croshaw, thank you for being with us. Good luck tonight. Thanks, Larry. And we'll see you after the ball game. 3, 2, 1. We're talking with Dixie College head football coach Greg Croshaw on today's Rebel Report. And, coach, I know it's a long trip back from Phoenix, but it's sure a lot easier with a win. Well, no question, Larry. And it's long trip down and back. We get to turn around and do it again in four or five days. So, you know, and that's the luck of the draw and the way things go next year, of course, we'll have an October where we'll have four games at home and just turn everything around. So. But it was a great, great trip for us. Good win. And now we move on to the next step, which is Glendale. This was a nationally ranked Mesa team preseason, and it is good ball club. Oh, no question. You know, this, this league of ours is as tough from top to bottom as I think any, comparatively speaking, as any in the country. I don't care if you're talking Big Ten or Pac 10 or anybody else. There's, I think, a situation where teams can jump up and get you. And I think the strength and the equality of strength of the teams is really something. And of course, their schedule as such, being Mesas that they have, you know, played Glendale, they've played Ricks, they played Dixie, and that's, you know, that's pretty tough going the first half of the season for them. They're halfway through with five games. So. But it continues now we have to go to Glendale, and of course, Ricks has played Snow and, you know, and you just keep knocking each other off. Nobody's gotten Ricks yet, but maybe that'll come about and you just have to be ready to play week in and week out, dominating 35 nothing win over Mesa. Were you surprised at how much you did dominate? Well, no question. I don't think. You know, in my wildest dreams, I had anticipated to go down there and shut them out, especially in today's football where everything's so wide open and there's so many good athletes and you throw the ball around. And we did give them some awful good field position, not by turnover, but a couple of kickoff returns, which were a little bit frustrating. But. But I anticipated, or I had hoped that it would be a close game. And coming down in the fourth quarter, we might be in a position to either score and win or play defense and win. And had no, like I say, dream that we would end up winning by a 35 to 0 score as we did. I think a real tribute to the coaching staff that prepared the kids and for the kids for executing almost flawlessly. And they took the game to Mesa. Well, they did. And, and it was close. It took a while. 35 points is quite a few for us. And especially where the first quarter, I don't know, we missed a couple of scoring opportunities earlier where we had it in there. And sometimes when that happens, the momentum swings, but we just never let them really get going. And whenever they had something that looked like was going to be good, that might happen, we'd come up with a big interception, a fumble recovery or something there that just would turn things right around in a hurry and. And a great ball game. We've been talking with Dixie College head football coach Greg Croshaw on today's Rebel report on 1450 KSGI. Mind if we do a second one? Okay. 3, 2, 1. We're talking with Dixie College head football coach Greg Croshaw on today's Rebel Report. And coach, there are a lot of heroes after a win with, like, Mesa Community College, one of which is your quarterback. Roger really had a great game. Well, no question. And Roger Cook, you know, showed signs of that the first week, I think, at Eastern Arizona when he went 15 for 18 and really had things moving. And we had great expectations for Roger, and I think he's, you know, living up to all of those. The unfortunate thing is he had a little accident climbing mountains or rocks or whatever he was doing, and that slowed him down. Well, made it so he couldn't play the second ball game, which is unfortunate for him and us and everybody else, but then bounced back and started to come a little bit last week again, even though his percentages weren't as high. But then in the Mesa game, he threw for 330 or 40 yards and 25 of 41. So the percentage is up there and under a lot of pressure. I mean, there was a lot of blitz and go going on and people coming after him. And he made a lot of real good reads and hot reads and got the ball to open receivers and really did a nice job. And he used seven different receivers. Yeah, moved it around. And like we say, the offensive line did, I think, a really fine job. Sometimes they were bringing as many as eight and you've only got five offensive linemen. Of course, you have to involve either the backs out on a very quick hot read kind of a situation or have them step up and block. And I thought in both situations we made the right read, got the throw off, or our running backs deserve a lot of credit for stepping up there and picking up those blitzing linebackers. Defensively, you picked up four pass interceptions, a couple of fumble recoveries that must have been pleasing. Well, no question that, you know, I think that's one of the statistics now that most people look at is that giveaway takeaway statistic. And we've talked about it pretty regularly now. And I think it plays plays without any question, a big part in every ballgame, the difference in those takeaways. And fortunately for us, we haven't turned it over in the last two weeks, but we've got quite a few turnovers and that makes a big, big difference. And I think that is really the key in why you're able to put up 35 points or have 35 to nothing scores. Because every time they get close, we get a sack or a fumble or an interception or something. That just turned things right around. You had a 3, 3 nothing lead until the closing seconds of the first half. They have a big penalty and you get the score. What did you tell them to have to get that rest of that lead? Well, I don't know, not really anything because we had played quite well. We moved the ball. We weren't getting points, but we certainly had moved the ball right from the first series on. And everything we were doing was working fine. We just had to finish it off. We got down in there and went for it 4 4th down a time or two and didn't come away with the points like we'd like to, but hung in there, kept doing the things you needed to do and then really took advantage of a couple opportunities there late in the half and then came right out and hit a big play and off we went. And once we were able to get it in, then I think Maybe we relaxed a little bit. Bit or something. Obviously it changed, but we were able to finish off the drives and Doug Lemon came up with three field goals, which was nice to see. 3 for 4. And the offense broke some tackles and got in some big plays, but we really didn't make that many adjustments at halftime because what we were doing, obviously, defensively, when you have zero up there, you're doing things right. Offensively, we were moving the ball. We just weren't finishing it off with the points. And I think that's really the difference that happened. We've been talking with Dixie College head football coach Greg Croshaw on today's rebel report on 1450 KSGI. I want to go over here and talk about these guys. Okay. Three, two, one. We're talking with Dixie College assistant football coach Chris Brockman and coach, this is kind of a reunion to get back at Dixie College, a reunion with coach Greg Croshaw, isn't it? Yeah. I played for Greg when I was at Snow College in 78, 77 and 78. He went to Arizona, Northern Arizona, and I went to University of Idaho to play after that. So it's been kind of fun. I've stayed in touch with Coach Groschaw over the years and wanted to get back together and coach with him. He was a big impact on what I did as far as a football player and as a coach and learned an awful lot from me. Let's go back to the Snow College years. The success of Snow College was very well under Dave Arslanian, who was head coach there. Well, we had a lot of success. We had a really good team and our defense was always top of the nation in what we did. And you know, Coach Croshaw has a great defensive mind and we did a lot of things different and put a lot of pressure on people and in fact, off of our team my sophomore year, all the linebackers went someplace to and most of secondary went someplace to play. I think there were only maybe two kids in the starting off defense that didn't go someplace else to play. You were in the linebacker corps then? Yeah, I played linebacker, outside linebacker for Coach Wilshaw. Let's trace the history of Chris Brockman. Where were you born and raised? I was born in Logan, Utah. I went to Logan Senior High School and left there, went to Snow College and from there I went to the University of Idaho and University of Idaho. I coached there, played there for two years, then coached two years and left there, went to Potlatch High School, coached there for three years, left There went to American Falls High School, coached there for three years. Went to Idaho State University and coached there for one year and left and came to Ponteview High School with the idea that I would like to have moved into the junior college ranks as soon as something opened up that I could move into. And just so happened after three years, that that happened. And so now I'm here. Let's go back to the Logan Grizzly years. Logan always had pretty good ball clubs. Well, they were. We were competitive. The years that I was there, we weren't as competitive. We played some pretty big schools that time. We had 900 students, and we were playing schools like Skyview and Roy, and Skyview had 2,400 students at the time. Time. And we were competitive, but we didn't win very many ball games. I think in the three years I was there, we won, like, four games. And so it was a tough time for me. And then I left and got a chance to be recruited and go to Snow College. And that was kind of fun. I really enjoyed that playing at Snow and the guys that I played with, Kimber hall and Hardy and Rezak and Overlea, There's a lot of good memories from Snow College and the times that we spent there. What attracted you to Snow College? What led you to say, hey, I want to go to Snow? I think just when I met with him, I came down and I talked to Coach Bunnell at Dixie, and I really enjoyed him and thought that would be a good place for me to go. And then on my way back, I stopped in and talked with Dave Archelanian and Coach Crowshaw. And I first came to Snow as a fullback and was going to play running back. And after the first couple days, they moved me to outside linebacker. They felt like I had the better defensive mentality, I guess. But it was just pretty much the coaches and the program seemed like it was going to be a very competitive program. And the coaches, you know, we're real supportive of the players and academics and those types of things. And so I think that was probably the biggest thing that led me to Snow was the coaching staff, and I felt more comfortable there. Kimber hall, he was an old adversary at Skyview High School. Was it fun having old adversaries as teammates? Oh, yeah. It was a lot of fun to play with guys that I'd played against when I played at Snow. We came down here to play Mesa my sophomore year, and Mesa beat us. That was when they ranked number one in the nation, and Carlton McBride was the Mesa defensive Back who intercepted the pass and ran it all the way back for a touchdown and beat us six to nothing and ended up playing with him at the University of Idaho. So it's always fun to get back against people you played against and be able to play on the same team with them. Kimber was a great quarterback at Snow and did a really good job for us and kind of was the team brought the offensive team together as a UN unit. It was a lot of fun. Snow Dixie rivalry. Was it as hot on the Snow side as it is on the Dixie side? Oh, yeah, there's no question we played Dixie. It was close practice, and we were always real careful about who was watching the practices. And, oh, yeah, it's a game where, you know, interstate rivals and basically wins that game has a better chance recruiting kids out of the state. And so, yeah, it was something they talked up a lot. And, you know, it was a big game for him, big recruiting game and lots of different things riding on it, you know, bragging rights and all those kinds of things. So, yeah, it's a big game for Snow as well as for Dixie. What about the first time you were an assistant coach for the Dixie side against Snow? What was the feeling? Well, you know, anytime you coach for Snow, I've grown really a great love for Dixie College now, you know, anytime you coach someplace, you kind of change what you look at. I knew Paul Tidwell really well as I coached at the high school level. He was down at the Idaho State a couple times with the camp they ran in the summer. So I got to know Paul really well. And it's always fun to coach against people, you know, because, you know, during the game you're out trying to beat them, and after the game, you can smile and walk across the field, especially if you won't. So, you know, when we played him the first time last year, for me as a coach in Dixie College, I really wanted to win so I could walk across the field and say hi to Paul. And when it was over and they'd beaten us and, you know, it makes it a little harder, but you still go across and congratulate them and tell them, you know, we hope they go a long ways and it was good for their program to be able to play in the Dixie bowl last year, but we hope they never play there again because we'd like to be there. From Snow to Idaho, what sent you to the Big Sky Conference? Well, it was kind of funny. I got playing at Snow and had been talking to quite a few colleges about Going someplace to play. And Bill Tripp was one of the defensive coaches that came by and looked at film. I went there with Rezak and Overlea, and we looked at the college and they offered us. And we came back and we weren't really sure that's where we wanted to go. In fact, I had made the comment to my wife and said, I'm not sure I want to go to Idaho to play. And we waited for about a week or so, and nobody else seemed to need to call. And so we started, you know, getting kind of panicky after a while. You don't want them to give away the scholarship they offered you. And so I finally called up and they sent the letter down. I signed, and right after that, I had two or three colleges called me up in Colorado State and offered me a trip to their campus. And I had to tell them that I had already signed. But it worked out really well. I got a chance to go down and play for Jerry Davitch, who's been a good friend now since I got out of and done playing. I got a chance to meet Dennis Erickson and coach with Dennis Erickson for a couple years. And I learned an awful lot from both those coaches. So it was a really good experience for me. The Sky Conference oftentimes is under appreciated for the ability or the. The level of talent. Well, I think there's some pretty good football played in the Big Sky Conference. I think the Big Sky Conference is very, very well looked on as far as Division 2 schools. And they seem to always have one of their teams is always close to or in the national championship race. I think Boise State's won it, and Idaho, I know, has been close to playing in it. Idaho State's won it one year, so out of the car. There's an awful lot of national championships that have been won from the Big Sky Conference. There's a lot of good football players at the Big sky. And I've talked to Crowshaw about maybe trying to get into the Idaho area and recruit some kids, because I think there's a lot of kids there that kind of get overlooked and they don't go anywhere. But there's some really good football players. There's some good programs that are running that Idaho area. So hopefully I get a chance to go down there and take a look at some of those kids this year. I gotta ask you, Potlatch that has a certain aura about the west with it. Where in the world is Potlatch Idaho? Potlatch Idaho is up way out in the Northern Part of Idaho. It's about 28 miles outside of Moscow, but it's a logging community. Potlatch Logging Company is the one that originated the town and it's a pretty tight knit group of people. I had one kid in one of my classes that hadn't been further than 30 miles away from his home since he was born. He was 18 years old. So, you know, it was an interesting environment. A lot of good people. I met a lot of people there that were just really nice to me. My family, we were really well accepted. A small community type atmosphere, but a lot of fun to coach the kids there and to have an impact, I hope. And it was. It's an interesting place though. You know, you're way up there in the Panhandle and it's a different way of life. What attracted you to Pine View and what brought you down to Pine View High School? Well, I think the biggest thing that attracted me at Pine View High School was crow shows at Dixie College. And I had talked to Greg prior to that, long time before that about wanting to come down and coach at Dixie College and leave the high school ranks and get back into college coaching. I really enjoy the college level athletes and working in the college level. I coached at Idaho for two years and Idaho State for a year and left Idaho State to get back into high school coaching at Pineview, basically with the chance that I might have maybe moving over and coaching at Dixie College down the road. I called Greg before I came down and knew I was leaving Idaho State. Walt Kreiner, who's now at Arizona Western, went to Indio and I was going to go with him to Indio and be his defensive coordinator. And, you know, plans were in the works with that when the Pineview head job opened up. But I think the biggest thing that brought me to Pine View was Greg being at Dixie College and having the opportunity to maybe come down and learn some more football from Greg. He's been a very big impact on me as a coach and how I approach the kids that I coach and. And you know, he's just. I think he runs a top notch program and I've learned an awful lot from him. Is there one game in your head coaching experience at Pine View High School that kind of stands out? That this is the game that was most memorable to me at Pine View High School? The one game. Well, I'll tell you what, we played some pretty good football teams and I think probably the game that stands out to me the most, the one that I like to remember the most Anyway, is the Spanish Fork game, my second year here, where they came down, and they were a pretty good football team. And we were 6 and 3, I think, at the end of the season, when that season ended, but we were five and two going into it, and there was a game to see who got third and who got fourth, and kids played real well and ended up winning it at the very, very end of the game. And I think that was probably the one thing. I have a lot of good memories about the kids that I coached at Pine View High School and, you know, great bunch of kids. I've always enjoyed the kids in the high school level and developing them a little bit as athletes, but Pine View had some great kids, and it was fun to work with them, but that would be the one game, you know, I have nightmares still about the Dixie High School games that I coached. I, you know, my first year here was the Mike Smith, who's now on the team here, and he's a great athlete, and Brown and Wilkinson, and, you know, I went through the Wilkinson era. That was my big problem, coming to Pine View High School during the time Wilkinson was there playing what a great athlete and, you know, what a tragedy with him having an accident and what happened, but what a great, great, great kid and great, great person with the way he's come out from that. But he was. I can remember standing, watching him run. They were beating us like, I don't know, 36 to 6 or something. I can't remember what the score was, but, you know, hating being there, getting blown out, but at the same time just loving the opportunity to watch a really great athlete run the football. He was. He was a phenomenal athlete. So, you know, those are the. Those are the games. I hope I forget, but, you know, the kids that I met and, you know, the Tylers and the Mike Smiths and those kids that I had a chance to coach against that were just phenomenal athletes. I think Dixie High School had some of the best athletes that they'd had in years, in the three years that I was there, and great coaches. Ray Odette did a great job with them and, you know, just super people that I had a chance to meet while I was here. But those would be the game I want to forget were the Dixie High School games, where they came down and just blew us out. You know, you look at those as Pineview High School, and you kind of wish, oh, gosh, maybe things will turn around. And I guess the painful one always swings. But, you know, they've done a super job this year getting those kids from Dixie High School ready to go. And Bill's done a good job with a young group of kids from Pineview. And so it's fun to still be in that environment as a high school teacher and see the excitement kids have for football and for the game and then be able to come over and coach on a level that I feel like I'm more equipped for that. Is your day job still with Pike? Yeah. They've been super to work with me. I've had Principal Dave Brodhead and Jim Johnson and Superintendent Peterson have been just great to work with me and let me have the opportunity to come and be at some of these games and do the things that are probably better for me than they are for them, but been really good to work with me and help me along and let me be able to come over and work with Dixie College. Let's talk a little bit about your assignment here at Dixie as an assistant coach. What are some of your specific assignments? Well, the things that I pay the closest attention to are the defensive line play. First of all, I coach the defensive line and. And then I coordinate all the special teams. And so, you know, that was one of the things that I talked to Greg before I came over here, was that I wanted to step in at a coordinator area and knowing that Jolly was the offensive coordinator and Greg the defensive coordinator, the only other coordinator spot is a special team. So, you know, I really wanted to step in and kind of leave my mark someplace as far as what I could do. And I felt like I brought a lot of experience and a lot of expertise to the staff in the respect that, you know, I've done that before. I was assistant coordinator of special teams when I coached at Idaho and worked with them, and I helped at Idaho State with their special teams, and I felt pretty good about it. And I think special teams wise, you know, last year we did very well, kickoff return wise and those types of things. So I feel really good about what I was able to do, what Greg gave me the opportunity to do here. As a coordinator of special teams, I enjoy coaching the defensive line, and, you know, hopefully in years to come, it'll work into something maybe even bigger than that, but you never know. And I just have really enjoyed coaching with the staff that's here, and I've learned an awful lot of football from Gordon and from Wade Roberts and Kelly Smith. Just a great bunch of coaches to work with and felt like I was being listened to and that my suggestion were valuable. And also the things that they were telling me that I could learn from. It's a good staff. Let's talk about your family. Married with kids. Oh, yeah. Probably the best thing that ever happened to me is that I got married. And Pam has been just probably my number one supporter and probably the most supportive wife anybody could ask for. She was, when I was in high school, American Falls, she was the president of the booster club and, you know, I mean, just has always been very supportive of what we've done and drove down to the Arizona Eastern Arizona game and filmed and, you know, I mean, just very supportive. My kids have enjoyed being around the football and the things that I've done that way. My son got a chance to come down and be with me here this week, and I've just got. It's been a super thing for me. I've got a neat family and, you know, JD And Cassie and Tommy and Andy and, you know, they just. Robbie, they're just really supportive of what I do as a coach and, and have been a big part of me as a coach. I, I told my teams in high school that, that, you know, as far as I was concerned, the way I looked at my teams where they were part of my family, and we'd have them over to the house every week, which was interesting for Pam because Pam would have to get everything ready for the. The team to come over to the house every week, and she enjoyed that. And, you know, a lot of my high school teams looked at her as mom and in fact called her that. And when they had girl problems, they'd call her and ask what they should do. And she was just a super person with them. And, you know, it was a big family for me as a head coach in high school. And that's the way I looked at my players. And I spent a lot of time with my football teams and I didn't want my, my kids to be slighted for that. And so the one people, people I'd like to see my kids develop more like are some of the players. You know, I look at some of the kids that played for me, you know, Sampsons, the Ben Petersons, you know, those kids that I got my son around and he was able to look at and kind of idolize a little bit. And now that I'm on the college level, you know, Mike Smith and those people that I would love to. To see my son be around because they're going to influence the way he develops. And I can't think of a better bunch of group kids to have my sons around and to develop that way. And my daughters are just happy when the football teams are able to come over to my house. They enjoy that, but it's been great with my family, and they're very supportive. And Pam has always been probably the best part of the program, so we joke a lot about calling her coach, Coach Pam, but she just liked to be called mom, so that's the way that worked out. Coach Chris Brockman, assistant coach for Dixie College. Thank you for being with us. Good luck the rest of the year. Well, thank you. I think we're going to be there. We played well last week, and if we can get this one tonight, it should catapult us a little bit, so thanks a lot. 3, 2, 1. We're talking with Mesa Community College head football coach David Rice and coach. Kind of a great start and then a little stutter. Now you're back on the winning ways again. Well, it's good to win. I guarantee you that. We did stutter a little bit. We didn't play very well the second game. We played real well the third game and really had a chance to beat Rick's in two big plays. Cost us the game from that standpoint. And then we got back. You know, anytime you win a game out of state, that's a great win. So we're happy right now from that win, but we got to move on and get better. We've got to play a lot better tonight to beat Dixie, because Dixie's not New Mexico military. You know, they're a good football program. This is a tough league, isn't it? Yeah. I mean, there's no weak sisters in this league. Every team that I saw last year, you know, Scottsdale's gotten better and PC's better, and Rick's, you know, they're real good in snow, you know. So that's why I'm trying to explain to my young kids here, they don't understand that you better show up every game or anything can happen. Let's talk about your ball club. What have you seen as the strength so far this year for the Teebirds, the strength appears to be surprising. Our quarterbacks picked up pretty well. We got two or three real good ones. And the strength of the team is the receivers. We've got four kids. One kid looks like he'll be the top guy in the nation getting recruited. He's a 4:2 kid, and he can run like heck. And I got 2, 4, 3. So we're just going to try somehow to get the ball in their hands, if we can, from that standpoint. So I think we've moved along pretty good throwing the ball. We got better last week rushing the quarterback, so I was happy with that. Played some better defense. We've given up too many big plays on defense and that's really, you know, really hurt us. The passing game, that's a little bit of a change for Mesa from the previous years when they used to like to run the game, right? Oh, yeah. When I got here last year was a real change because, you know, half the guys were recruited for that wing tee that Coach Ewan ran. And my background has been Big sky background. I was up at NAU for four years. And so first thing, what I'm going to do is we'll throw the ball and we'll run a little bit. But the other thing is the only games that I've lost since I've been here, every time that I rush for over 100 yards, I've won. I still believe in the run, but I also believe you've got to throw the ball because someone will run an eight man front and you're done and you can't win. So you've got to have the ability the other team has to respect your ability to throw it. It's also easier recruiting here in the Valley. I've got most of the kids in the Valley now are coming here and that's helping me because you don't have to work very hard to get a quarterback receiver in this offense. Shoot against Lindell, we threw it 51 times. Now, as you look, defense has always been a stalwart for Mesa Community College. Sounds like it is again. It is now. We didn't play even though we beat. He gave up three touchdowns and I wasn't happy with that. Lindo. We didn't even show up. I don't even know who we were impersonating people. That's offense, defense and everybody. Ricks. We showed up and played defense for about 90% of the game and didn't on three plays. So last week we showed up, played the whole game and that's what we've got to do is play defense. We've got good people over there. It's just, it's one of those things where you worry about as a coach and it came through. We had so much preseason pub and we've got good players here that some of those guys read their press conference, you know, and then when you're 1 and 2 and 2, you quit reading your press conference anymore. I said nobody at the other schools are reading them. And you know Half of you guys can't read Eurozone anyway. So that was, in my opinion, why we stuttered there a little bit is they're getting so many darn letters from so many colleges that they're starting to work well. I wonder what I'm going to do or what school I'm going to. Meanwhile, you better get film. What's going to be the challenge for Dixie? The challenge for us is really is going to be, as I see it, most football games, but especially because I really think Dixie's got a real good lineman, and, you know, they're going to be bigger than us, and so we've really got to stay low and play hard, and that'll be the key, I think, up front. You know, with that, we got manhandled by Lindo up front, but we did okay. With Ricks, we did fine. We had 330 yards throwing and 100 rushing, so we were able to do that. And last week, we were able to do the same thing. So, to me, the key point is if we can have some success with the linemen, we'll have a chance. If we don't, then Dixie's going to have a good shot to really beat me, and that's why I stress the week to the team. Coach David Rice, thank you for being with us. Good luck tonight. All right, you, too. It.