By John Raffel
Dallas Reeser is one of only five seniors on this season’s Ithaca football team, and he will be counted upon to significantly contribute on both sides of the ball.
The 6-foot, 204-pound Reeser will be playing running back and linebacker, and he has a special reason for wanting to return to Ford Field for the state final in November and go after a fifth Division 6 state championship.
On a punt return early in last year’s 41-22 championship victory over Clinton, Reeser broke his arm and had to leave the the game. “That was a crucial point in the game,” coach Terry Hessbrook said of the play that put Clinton in front 15-14 and ended the game for Reeser. “I felt when we got our players together, Brad Showers, my defensive coordinator, and myself were out and concerned about Dallas’ welfare. I said, ‘Brad, either you or I have to get back to the sidelines and get this team rallied back together.’ He went back, and we were able to get Dallas secured and taken care of.”
An ambulance took Reeser to Children’s Hospital, a trip of about a 10 minutes. Reeser was out four months to recover from a broken humerus.
Prior to leaving the game, in the one quarter of football that he played, Reeser had a tackle and an assist. Prior to the championship game, he played a large role in the team’s 14-0 state title run, carrying the ball around 16 times as a backup running back in his first varsity season. He was a starting running back as a sophomore with the junior varsity and is looking forward to running extensively with the ball this season. During the off-season, he’s been focusing on being a full-time running back.
He noted that Ithaca will continue to run the spread offense. “We practice it a lot,” he said. “I’m more of a power back. But I could be faster.”
Reeser is confident that he can bounce off would-be tacklers and also make open-field cuts. If necessary, he’s also ready to be a pass receiver.
He’s also looking forward to playing outside linebacker.
Reeser was satisfied with his 2013 performances. “As the year went, on, I progressed and thought I did a lot better,” he said. “I’m good at reading the ball and seeing where it’s going to go.”
Reeser shared his thoughts about the team’s defense. “I’m not sure about the down linemen. They are looking pretty strong. We have good corners, linebackers, and safeties.”
The Yellowjackets are cautiously optimistic about another strong season. “We know it’s not going to be a walk in the park,” Reeser said. “We know we have to work hard. We’re confident we can do it. We’ve conditioned ever since school got out and have been running extra.”
Staying healthy and developing depth has been a key behind the Yellowjackets’ success, Reeser noted. “As long as everybody does their job, we should be fine both ways,” he said.
The Yellowjackets will have a new quarterback in Jacob Smith. “I played with him on the JV level, and he was quarterback,” Reeser said. He stated that Jacob and his brother Travis, the Ithaca quarterback for the previous three seasons, are “both mobile quarterbacks.”
When asked how long the 56-game winning streak might last, Reeser answered, “We take one game at a time and focus on each one.”