Dahlhoff has Knights thinking title

Bailey Dahlhoff remembers how rough his freshman season was at Stone Ridge Christian High.

The Knights went 0-10 and as winless seasons go, it wasn’t pretty. Stone Ridge Christian forfeited two games. When the Knights did take the field, they absorbed blowouts like a 42-0 loss to Brookside Christian and a 44-6 drubbing by Big Valley Christian.

Dahlhoff felt lost at times as a defensive back playing football for the first time.

“I would get run over every time on defense,” Dahlhoff said. “I would try to make these ankle-biter tackles. On offense I just tried to hold onto the ball as tight as I could. I was probably 120 pounds back then and could only squat about 80 pounds.”

Three years later, Dahlhoff and the Stone Ridge Christian program have come a long way.

The Knights (10-2) will play Elliot Christian (10-1) on Saturday for the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VII championship at the Grape Bowl in Lodi at 1 p.m.

Dahlhoff has transformed himself from that timid freshman to a playmaker on both sides of the ball for Stone Ridge Christian. Now a 5-10, 155-pound wingback/cornerback, Dahlhoff has rushed for 1,766 yards and 35 touchdowns this season.

Opposing teams rarely challenge his side of the field when he’s on defense. Dahlhoff has only had two pass attempts come his way at cornerback all season.

“We’re going to continue to ride him,” Knights assistant coach Anthony DeJager said. “I was talking to my brother (A.J.) about whether we should back off using Bailey so much. His response was, “Did you see Hoosiers? Do you remember when they tried to make Jimmy the decoy and everybody stopped. Then Jimmy says he’ll make the shot.”

“We have to continue to put the ball in our best player’s hands.”

Dahlhoff credits hard work and commitment to his improvement and the program’s turnaround. Dahlhoff missed his sophomore season with injuries to both knees.

He tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee at practice before the season. While hopping on his left knee during P.E., he injured the medial patellofemoral ligament in his left knee.

“I had to use a walker to get around for about a week,” said Dahlhoff.

Art DeJager took over the Knights’ football program last year and quickly implemented a year-round weight program from which Dahlhoff and his teammates benefited.

“We had to install a hard work ethic, No. 1,” Art DeJager said. “We had to get tough, No. 2. That is something that had to change. The offseason weight training program was something these kids haven’t done before. Our goal was to build our team around the line on offense and defense.”

Art DeJager and his sons who assist him – Anthony and A.J. – brought the double-wing offense used in Chowchilla while Art was an assistant and his sons went through the Redskins’ program.

DeJager saw the Knights buying into the program midway through last year. The Knights reached the playoffs for the first time in school history behind a pair of 1,000-yard backs in Estevon Herrera (1,621 yards and 20 touchdowns) and Jamie Trevino (1,079 yards and eight touchdowns).

Dahlhoff spent most of his time on defense last year while coming back from the knee injuries.

“He’s grown so much in a year,” Art DeJager said. “We knew he had huge shoes to fill this year and he’s more than filled them on both sides of the ball. We really didn’t know what we had in him this year. We just knew he was fast.”

Dahlhoff credits his offensive line for his gaudy statistics. He says the offensive line has vastly improved in the two years DeJager has coached.

If the Knights’ line can open up a hole, Dahlhoff trusts his speed.

“I’m a speed back,” Dahlhoff said. “I’m not the biggest kid, so going heads-up with a 200-pound linebacker is not the best decision. If I can make a guy miss, that’s what I’m going to do.”

After the 0-10 freshman season, Dahlhoff can’t believe the Knights are playing for a section title.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “A lot of hard work went in to get us here this season. Not just by me or one player, but everybody. Our word this week is finish. We want to finish strong.”

This story was originally published November 26, 2014 at 7:32 PM with the headline "Dahlhoff has Knights thinking title."