Sometimes change is good

Plans change.

Going into the 2010 Greater Spokane League football season, University High School coach Bill Diedrick planned to use a two-platoon system. His Titans would have an offensive unit and a defensive unit; no one would play both ways.

“That lasted one game,” senior lineman Joe Dahl said.

After a 35-7 loss to Ferris in the season opener, the team scrapped the platoon system and Dahl found himself not only starting at left tackle on offense, but at defensive end as well. This past week he learned he has been named a First-Team All-GSL selection at both positions.

“That first week I was pretty tired by the end of the game,” he said, referring to the team’s 27-3 win over Lewis and Clark.

University’s schedule featured a brutal five-week run to start the season: Ferris, Lewis and Clark, Gonzaga Prep, Central Valley and Mt. Spokane. The team was 1-4 going into its final four games of the season.

“Those first games were rough, and we knew it was going to be a real challenge,” Dahl said. “For me, it got me fired up. I was excited to go out there and test myself against those teams.

“Once we made the changes we did, it took a little time to get used to playing with one another. But I think that start to the season really brought us together as a team.”

The fact that the Titans took a 6-4 record and a five-game win streak into Friday’s state Class 3A first-round playoff game at Albi Stadium against Mt. Spokane is a testament to their ability to rebound.

“The way these kids came back after going 1-4 says a lot about this team,” offensive line coach Don Ressa said. “It takes character to make that kind of a turn-around.”

Ironically, it was game five, a 42-23 loss to Mt. Spokane that marked the turnaround point for U-Hi.

“I think that was the game where we really started to put things together,” Dahl said. “That’s when our running game really started to come together.”

Senior Jory Zettle, who started the season at cornerback and was shifted to running back before the first game, did not start against Ferris. His numbers in the first four games were respectable: 69 carries, 424 yards and four touchdowns. Against Mt. Spokane, he carried the ball 32 times for 227 yards and two scores.

“We take a lot of pride in our running game and I think that’s what made the difference for us,” Dahl said. “Jory learned to be patient and our offensive line learned to work together.”

In the final five games of the regular season and last week’s playoff win over Eastmont, Zettle carried 172 times for 1,140 yards and 12 touchdowns. Zettle finished the regular season with 1,458 yards, the eighth best single season in GSL history.

Over the past six games, Zettle averaged almost 30 carries and 190 yards rushing per game. Three times he ran for more than 200 yards in a game, amassing a season-high 246 against Rogers.

“I think we’re a much better team going into this game with Mt. Spokane than we were the last time,” Dahl said. “We’ve gotten better each week and I think we’re a different team than the one they faced the last time.”

Dahl’s football future is bright.

In addition to being a two-way All-GSL player, the 6-4, 240-pounder already orally committed to play football at the University of Montana, where the Grizzlies will no doubt shake his hand in welcome and direct him to the weight room.

“Joe’s still a baby,” Ressa laughed. “He’s a good, big kid and I can see him really filling out in college. He’s got the kind of frame where he could easily handle 300 or so pounds without compromising his quickness, and that’s his biggest asset. He has great feet and he runs like a deer.

“And he’s a smart, smart football player. He’s so coachable you only have to tell him once.”

That, perhaps, comes from being part of a local football family. Dahl’s father, Mike, was a quarterback at Central Valley.

“My dad and I talk about football all the time, especially after a game,” he said. “We talk through everything that happened.”

Or perhaps that coachability comes from being a standout in the classroom as well. Dahl boasts a 3.85 grade-point average as an Advanced Placement student.