Extra Point Previews: Dale County Warriors

MIDLAND CITY, Ala ( WDHN ) — 4A Region 2 has been a gauntlet over the past two seasons, and Dale County knows that all too well, having secured just five wins during that span. But with an all-new region slate in 2024, head coach Evan Ballard is determined to guide the Warriors back to playoff form in year two at the helm.

“We’ve got an experienced group. That’s going to be big for us. The last couple of years, we’ve been young, and I think we kind of used that as a crutch,” Ballard said. “Our guys know this year that’s not the case. We are experienced; we’ve got a lot of guys back. Our guys take pride in knowing they’ve played a lot of minutes, and they’re looking forward to putting it all together.”

When you talk about playmakers for the Dale County Warriors, you can’t overlook the 6’6″ junior, Junior Smith. Described as a Swiss Army knife on offense, Smith’s versatility is incredible at his size, and he’s also developed into a formidable presence on defense.

“You can use him everywhere, especially on the offensive side,” Ballard explained. “Defensively, the opponent has to know where he’s at. We can use him at receiver, quarterback, running back—so that’s huge to have that versatility. And defensively, he’s really improved for us too. He’s not just a pass rusher; he’s doing a good job fitting into the run game the right way. He can drop into coverage when needed.”

Smith will pair with senior quarterback Dallas Hedstrom to form a dynamic duo on offense. The two have played together since their pee-wee football days, and that familiarity benefits them in multiple ways.

“They’ve played together so long,” said Ballard. “Dallas kind of knows the spots that Junior likes—where to put the football, things like that. But when one comes in and the other goes out, there’s never a hang-your-head moment. It’s ‘You’ve got it now, go do the job.’”

The Warriors struggled with injuries last year, and down the stretch, senior playmaker Tristan Smith had to shoulder a heavy load for the offense, which built a lot of trust in him heading into his senior year.

“Having him back and knowing we can trust him to play multiple spots is going to be big,” Ballard noted. “He’s someone who can play in the backfield, but we can also flex him out wide to make plays. We’ve got guys we can put in different spots to make it tough on the defense.”

While the Warriors have plenty of talent at the skill positions, Coach Ballard emphasizes that this team will go as far as the guys in the trenches can take them.

“I think our physicality up front is going to be a strength of our team,” Ballard said. “That’s probably the biggest thing that we’re looking forward to. We’re going to lean on the offensive line on that side of the ball, and defensively, we feel like we probably have eight to nine guys that we can rotate up front on the defensive line. And that’s huge. Just seeing the confidence in those guys up front, if we can continue to grow as a unit, that’s going to be a strength for us.”

The Warriors open their season next Friday, August 23rd, hosting Headland in what will be our very first Extra Point Game of the Week of the season.

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