Preview of Diamondback Football Program

By BOB SNELL

The Progress

As one of the smallest public schools competing in the NIAA, Beaver Dam High School, which sits just across the border in Arizona, has its own set of unique issues. Especially in athletics.

Exhibit A would be the school’s football program. The Diamondbacks play eight-man football and compete in the 1-A South League, the smallest classification in the NIAA.

Beaver Dam, which is located only eight miles from Mesquite, has struggled in recent years with low numbers for its football team. There has been a couple of instances where games have been canceled because the Diamondbacks haven’t been able to field enough players to participate.

First-year coach Bryan Schmersal is looking forward to the challenge that Beaver Dam presents.
“I’m really excited to be here and coaching again,” said Schmersal, a native of Western Pennsylvania. “It’s definitely a different situation here for these kids at Beaver Dam.”

The Diamondbacks have had 14-15 kids who were interested in playing before practices got underway. But that number has hovered around eight or nine over the past week or so.

“We want these kids to have fun playing, but there are times when football is just not fun,” Schmersal said. “We’ve been telling the kids to tell their friends to come out. The more players we have, the better off we are.”

Schmersal and his coaches have had to be creative in practices.
“We don’t have enough kids on the other side of the ball to scrimmage against,” Schmersal said. “We’ve had to have coaches step in or use tackling dummies.”

“Obviously, we haven’t had a lot of opportunities to work on things,” Schmersal added. “If we had 20 kids it would be a different story.”

Still, Schmersal and his coaches remain optimistic about the upcoming season.
“These kids deserve to have some consistency,” Schmersal said. “It’s been a learning experience for me, as well. But, I’m having fun with these kids. I’m looking forward to see how they perform on the field.”

After having its scrimmage against El Capitan canceled last week, Beaver Dam will open its season on Saturday at Arizona rival Fredonia. The D-Backs home opener will be against Word of Life Christian Academy of Las Vegas on Sept. 16 at 6 p.m.

“We’re still a work in progress,” Schmersal said. “But I can’t wait for these kids to play a game to see what we’ve got.”