Lake Oswego Review/West Linn Tidings
August 29, 2013
2013 fOOTbaLL pRevieW
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By MATT SHERMAN
The Review, Tidings
Armed with one of the top
quarterbacks in the state and
an offense that is still capable
of scoring on virtually any
opponent, Lakeridge enters
the 2013 season as a danger-
ous and unpredictable squad.
The question for the Pacers
in recent years and this fall
continues to be with its de-
fense and, in particular, its
defensive line.
Teams have been able to run
with abandon against Lak-
eridge, controlling the clock and
the line of scrimmage while put-
ting pressure on the offense to
put up points on nearly every
possession.
However, a new crop of defen-
sive coaches has instilled new
schemes and confidence with
the Pacers and if the team,
which is still relatively thin, can
stay healthy, it could be very
competitive.
“I love our defensive staff this
year. They’re so knowledgable
of the game and have been real-
ly impressive,” coach Tom
Smythe said.
On offense, much of Lak-
eridge’s fortunes will lie in the
arm and legs of quarterback
Eric Dungey. Dungey’s athleti-
cism figures to give teams fits
again this year, and while he is
exceptionally dangerous when
he can find space in the open
field, the Pacers hope to provide
more protection this year to al-
low him to throw more often.
“He’s a talented kid and does
a lot of things that you can’t
coach. We want him to be able to
hang in the pocket a bit more
and make good decisions,”
Smythe said.
Dungey figures to benefit
from the return of JR McLaugh-
lin, one of the Pacers’ top all-
around athletes who went down
with a knee injury in the fourth
game of the season last year. He
was near the top in the state in
all receiving categories when he
was injured.
Jack Cole, Chase Clark and
Joe Sindlinger will also be big
targets for Dungey this season.
In the backfield, sophomore
Holden Catlett has shined at
tailback in early practices so far.
“He’s got a chance to be really,
really good,” Smythe said.
On the line, James Andrew
returns at tackle along with
Kyle Jonsson. A handful of play-
ers are currently vying for the
guard positions and the Pacers
will feature a strong center, Tra-
vis Johnson, who transferred
into the program from South-
ridge.
“We like our starters and
there are some good young kids
behind them. It’s as good of
depth as we’ve had there in a
long time,” Smythe said.
This year will also mark a
shift in the program as Smythe
will not be calling his own plays.
That dutywill fall to coordinator
Chad Carlson, who Smythe
thinks has injected some youth
and energy into the program.
“Chad played for me and has
the same mentality. He’s got the
kids heading in the right direc-
tion,” Smythe said.
Defensively, Lakeridge will
try to limit the number of play-
ers it has to use on both sides of
the ball to provide as much rest
as possible.
Chase Marshall and Massen
Newton will give the Pacers
some bulk up front along with
Andrew DeMonico and Mar-
queese Royster.
At linebacker, Clark Smith
and Joel Schwarz head up a
strong and athletic corps.
“Joel was a first-teamall-state
guy in lacrosse. That group is
already way ahead of where we
were last year,” Smythe said.
In the secondary, both Ryan
Dunham and Tyler Miller pro-
vide experience and the Pacers
also received a free safety trans-
fer fromOregon City, Jacob Tip-
ton.
As a group, Lakeridge’s de-
fense figures to be vastly im-
Elite quarterback,
new crop of
defensive coaches
look to the playoffs
A healthy Lakeridge squad hopes to be a threat
pAMpLiN MEdiA gRoup pHoTo: vERN uyETAkE
From left: Chase Marshall, Joel Schwarz, Eric dungey, JR McLaughlin and Massen Newton figure to be leaders and key contributors for the 2013 Lakeridge football team. The pacers hope to ramp up the defense this
season while continuing to be a high-powered offensive threat.
See THREAT / page B4
on offense, much of Lakeridge’s fortunes will lie in
the arm and legs of quarterback Eric dungey.
1,2 4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12