Dos Palos Broncos look to build on return to roots

Rodney Miller experienced first hand what it was to be a part of the Dos Palos football team in its prime.

Miller was a ballboy for the Broncos growing up and still vividly recalls the palpable excitement in the air on a Friday night at Bill Hume Stadium.

“When you were a kid, it was unreal,” the senior middle linebacker and tight end said. “I remember the excitement, the fans going crazy, the coaches yelling at the players and the energy after a big play. I couldn’t wait to grow up and be a part of it.

“That excitement started to come back last year. The stands were packed again. People were talking about the team. We got back to some of the old-school Dos Palos football and the town responded.”

First-year coach Rob Calvert felt the Broncos had gotten too far away from what has made the storied program one of the top-five winningest in state history. Calvert reinstated a lot of traditions and got back to the smash-mouth style of football that Dos Palos’ success was built upon.

The team went 7-5 and won its first outright West Sierra League crown since Mike Sparks retired in 2010. DP advanced to the Central Section Division V semifinals with a game that appeared winnable against a Mendota team it already had beaten in league. But the year ended in disappointment as the Aztecs struck for 29 fourth-quarter points to pull out a 49-34 victory.

Calvert said the bitter taste of that defeat has been a driving point this offseason.

“With the way we play football, putting up 34 points I would expect us to win every time,” Calvert said. “It definitely hurt, but I think it’s also left the kids motivated coming into this season. It took a little while for us to get going against a pretty tough nonconference schedule, but by the time we got into league, we’d figured out our identity again. All the way through the youth system up, we’re a smash-mouth football team.

“I learned in my first year that the more old traditional things I put in, the better we did.”

With all five offensive linemen back, led by three-year starter Wyatt O’Banion (6-foot-3, 275 pounds), the Broncos have a great foundation to build upon. Throw in the bruising Miller as a blocking tight end and a bowling ball of a fullback in Tre Walker (6-foot, 220) and the Dos Palos power game could be potentially better than a year ago.

The question is, who will be gaining the yards? The Broncos’ skill players were almost entirely seniors in 2015, opening the door for a new generation of stars.

“I’ve got like four tailbacks right now that have a lot of speed,” Calvert said. “The kids we have coming up have plenty of skill, they just don’t have a lot of varsity experience.

“I think our offense has the potential to do some special things. The major concern for me is replacing 10 guys on defense.”

The team returns middle linebacker Miller, who led the team in tackles a year ago. Throw in some potential space eaters such as Walker and Jorge Escalante (6-3, 295) on the defensive line, and there’s reason for optimism. With only 30 guys on the roster, it remains to be seen how many will have to go both ways and how much of a toll that smash-mouth style may take.

“We definitely don’t have as many guys as we did a year ago, but I think top to bottom we’re a lot more talented,” Miller said. “There’s a lot of young guys that are definitely going to have to step up, but they have the ability to do it. We’re a group that grew up playing together, so we’re already close. We just have to play with heart, trust each other, condition well and we should be able to get right back to where we were last year.”

This story was originally published August 25, 2016 at 11:13 AM with the headline "Dos Palos Broncos look to build on return to roots."