Football: Doles dominates on both sides of the ball

From the first moment that senior Troy Doles stepped onto a Pop Warner football field a decade ago, he knew that football was his sport.

Doles, now a star running back and safety for the Falcons, has come along way from the over-sized pads and helmets of the Pop Warner days.

As a junior, Doles led the team with 682 rushing yards and 1,467 all-purpose yards. Now with his high school football career almost over, Doles knows what he wants to end with: a CCS title.

“I really want to make it to CCS, and from there hopefully win it,” Doles said, “However we gotta play hard and get some wins first.”

The Falcons have not gone deep into CCS during Doles’ tenure at the school; during 2009 they were ousted by Seaside in the second round. However, Doles believes that this will be the year that the team makes it.

“I really think that this is the team that is gonna make it to CCS and hopefully get far into it,” Doles said.

Doles is certainly doing his part. As a three-year starter, Doles is one of the more versatile players in the league, succeeding at the rigorous positions of running back and safety. While most players prefer to play just one position, Doles decides to play both offense and defense for the exhilaration that comes from both.

“I like playing offense and defense equally,” Doles said. “I like offense because you are the one with the ball and the defender ultimately has to make a play on you. I like the pass defense element of defense because I really like ‘ball hawking’ (moving quickly around the field to where the ball is).”

This year, Doles has battled shoulder injuries that have kept him off the field at times. However, he is still the leading receiver with 79 yards and one touchdown, and while his playing time as a running back has diminished due to the injury, he has still accumulated a respectable 75 rushing yards with an average of 5 yards per carry.

Doles’ ability on the field is definitely imminent. “Troy is definitely one of our main play-makers on the offensive and defensive side of the ball, and he’s extremely explosive,” senior lineman Kyle Schulz said.

One of the special abilities that Doles has is his speed and quickness. “He can use his speed to just blow by people and make big plays on both offense and defense,” Schulz said.

In terms of being a leader, Schulz said that the team looks to him to do well, and if he does well, the team rallies around him.

Doles has played a strong part in the team’s success early in the season, recording a tremendous 79-yard touchdown reception in a 40-14 victory over Los Altos on Sept. 30 and running for 75 yards and recording 41 receiving yards and 1 touchdown against Hollister on Sept. 16.

Doles’ dedication to the game is surely paying off. After fighting through the injuries this summer and early in the season, he has made his way back to near-full strength in order to be on the field as often as possible. Not only does Doles have the incentive of reaching CCS to work harder, but also the possibility of playing college football, a lifelong dream.

“So far I’ve been contacted by schools like Brown and Claremont McKenna,” Doles said. “As great as it would be to win CCS, it would be pretty cool to keep playing in college.”