Dakota Football's Head Coach Talks Team Makeup, Muskegon, Morton

Frequent water breaks served to hydrate the players and divide the plays run Monday at the first of 2011 season.

Dakota finished the 2010 season with a 9-3 record, falling to undefeated Cass Tech 31-19 in the regional final, and coach Mike Giannone said he plans to change this season’s play style to take his team closer to the undefeated mark.

“We’re going to be a totally split team this year,” he said, referring to the team’s offense and defense. “We’re trying not to have any kids play both ways. We’ve got enough kids, so it seems that we should be able to do that.”  

Of the 75-some players who turned out for the first day of practice, Giannone said 32 are seniors.

“We’re still a senior-based team,” he said. “Most will do a lot of playing, but they didn’t get a lot of time last year, because there were seniors in front of them, so we’re starting over again.”

While it’s difficult to judge a team after only three hours of practice, Giannone said the play “looks pretty solid,” with a lot of athletes competing for the key positions.

“I think we have our core group, but we have to be able to find those other kids who are going to be willing to play,” he said.

against Muskegon High School on Aug. 25 at Muskegon. The Cougars defeated the Big Reds 23-20 in 2010, but this year’s trek to Muskegon will be the furthest this team has ever traveled.

“We’re going to try to keep the same routine we have (when we play at home),” Giannone said. “It will just be like a regular game day with a four-hour bus trip in there. This will be the furthest trip we’ve taken, so we’ll try to embrace it a little bit.”

The team will also look to use the Muskegon road experience to prepare for the four out of five away games it faces in the first half of the season.

“I’m not sure how the five away games will go,” Giannone said. “In the past, we’ve played pretty well away, but we like playing on our own field. We have one of the nicest facilities in the state of Michigan and we like playing here, but we didn’t make the schedule. We’re going to have to adapt a bit.”

The team could also gain one more player this season with the transfer of former Warren Fitzgerald running back Dejuan Morton.

A rising star at Warren Fitzgerald, Morton is slated to spend his senior year at Dakota, although at this point in time, he is not eligible to play for the Cougars.

“No comment right now,” Giannone said when asked about Morton’s transfer. “Once he gets eligible, I’d love to talk about him.”

Check out a photo gallery of the first day of practice here.