Derek Dues runs for a chunk of his 138 yards rushing in Friday’s 48-29 win over Tri-Village.
Respected more for his work as a linebacker, Coldwater’s Derek Dues provided the added punch in the Cavaliers avalanche running attack in win over Tri-Village.
New Madison, OH – Junior Derek Dues is far from the biggest figure on the football field at 5’9″ and 180 pounds.
If that.
And yet, the way he plays at that size is just the way the Cavaliers coaches like it…tough, gritty, and tireless.
Need a tackle on defense to save a first down, or worse…a touchdown? Dues is your man.
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Need a first down on offense? Playing now as the replacement part for the injured Braxton Taylor, Derek Dues is still your man. The perfect complement in Chip Otten’s 1-2 ground attack behind quarterback Karsyn Homan, he lugged the ball 15 times for 138 yards in Friday night’s 48-29 win over Tri-Village, and he scored twice.
And yet, you might not notice in a league with impact players like Charlie Werling (St. Henry), Brayden Mescher (Marion Local), Gavin Dicke (New Bremen), Logan Ziegenbusch (Anna), and Landyn Knapke (Versailles). But Otten, who played running back at Bowling Green at about the same size as Dues, knows better, and is glad to have him.
“If I had to pick a ‘best’ player on our team I’d probably say Derek,” said Otten following Friday’s regional semifinal win. “He’s hard-nosed. He’s a first-team linebacker in the league and a second-team running back. So yeah, he’s pretty darn good.”
And yet, given the current shortage of names synonymous with Coldwater, you might not notice. No Austin Bruns…no Brody Hoying…no Baylen Blockberger, or Mason Welsch. But it’s there, make no mistake. Same message, just a different package.
“We didn’t expect tonight to be an easy task,” he said of Friday’s win to advance. “So we come out every week and just do the work to prepare. Non-stop, we’re constantly working to perfect things. We stopped them tonight on their first possession, that gave us the momentum, and we loved that because we went right down and scored. It got a little shaky in the first half when they punched one in before halftime to get some momentum, but we came right back to score at the start of the third quarter – we punched one in. It was a fun game to play.”
He had a lot of help Friday, as football is a team effort. No running back gets 138 yards on his own, and they routinely credit their offensive linemen, which prompted Dues to ante up some sweet rewards for Saturday morning films.
“I might just have to buy every one of our linemen a donut for films in the morning. They opened some big holes.” – Derek Dues
“They opened up some big holes tonight…big enough to drive a truck through,” he promised. “I might just have buy every one of our linemen a donut for films in the morning. Yep, a donut.”
The scary thing about Coldwater, now 9-4 and winners of four of their last five…they’re finally healthy with the exception of Braxton Taylor.
“We didn’t have the regular season that we hoped we’d have,” Dues reasons. “We had hoped to go undefeated. And our four losses were all one-score losses, and we could have won those games if we had punched more in. But that’s just how it goes.
“Now we’re in the playoffs, the next season, and everything starts all over again. It’s a fresh start and the regular season record doesn’t matter now. Now, every loss breaks someone’s heart, and that’s tough. But we have to break some hearts so ours doesn’t get broken. That’s just the way it goes.”
And of course he’s looking on, forward, and to next week’s rematch with Anna…an opportunity to prove something. But one game at a time, and the reality of how everything starts over again with each passing week. Breaking some hearts before your own gets broken.
The Cavaliers’ overlooked man is overlooking no one. That’s just the way it goes.
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