Photo courtesy Andre Wright

Last season record through three weeks:
Varsity: 0-3
Junior Varsity: 3-0

Last year finish:
Varsity: Lost in wildcard round to Cumberland
Junior Varsity: Missed playoffs

Players to watch:

DB Shakir Lewis
WR Andy Collison
QB Damien White
DB Matthew Boateng

Varsity

For Pickericking Dolphins varsity head coach James Moore, glitzy packages and schemes are nice but he prefers a more simple approach.

“Our goal has been to teach our players and build their confidence by insisting on quality execution of a few things as opposed to trying … to do too much and winding up executing a lot of things poorly,” he said. “So we may be criticized for being plain. Hopefully we will execute ‘plain’ very well and build as the season progresses.”

Moore is back coaching after being away from the team for two years. He coached the Pickering varsity squad in 2008 and 2009 and says this year’s team has better wheels than any he’s coached.

“I would suggest that this team has the best team speed that I have ever had,” he said. “During our 2008 run to the OVFL Championship, we had selective individuals with exceptional speed. We don’t have exceptional individual speed but we are demonstrating very good overall speed, particularly on defence.”

As for players he’s expecting big seasons from, Moore says its hard to say having not seen them play in the regular season yet, adding that players develop as they play more games.

He does, however, say that his defence played very well during pre-season scrimmages, especially in defending the read zone. He says if he had to pick one player on that defence as a headliner it would be cornerback Shakir Lewis, a player Moore calls young but gifted.

“If (Lewis) develops through the season, he’ll be a good one,” Moore said. “In pre-season, controlled scrimmages he has had a flair for making plays at particularly critical times which is usually a sign of a guy who steps up when the pressure is on.”

At quarterback, Moore says rookie Damien White will start and that he was impressed by White’s performance in pre-season scrimmages. White threw for 294 yards and 7 touchdowns in three matchups with Hamilton, Metro Toronto and Oshawa.

“(White) has worked very hard. He was composed in the huddle and when mistakes happened he shook it off and got to the next play. He is learning the position and is developing well,” Moore added.

The Dolphins start the season at home against Kingston, then Etobicoke and then hit the road to face Metro Toronto and the Toronto Thunder. Moore concedes it’s a difficult stretch but says he has faith his coaching staff will lighten the load.

“It won’t be easy…(but) I am blessed with an incredibly loyal and dedicated staff of assistants and…we are not going to worry about the expectations of others as we have a lot of confidence in the fact that we have worked together well in the OVFL and elsewhere over the years,” he said.

Junior Varsity

Even though last year’s team missed the playoffs, JV Dolphins head coach Stoddard says he doesn’t want to think about getting over that hump just quite yet.

“To be honest, we’re taking it one game at a time. Our goal obviously is a championship however we’re not overlooking anybody,” he said. “So we’re not going to think about playoffs until that time. Right now, we’re just going to worry about (game one and) Kingston.”

This is Stoddard’s first year as JV head coach after serving as linebacker coach for the junior program for the last few years. He and the coaching staff have been together for a number of years, know each other well and have a familiarity with the incoming players.

Stoddard’s first impression of this year’s Dolphins team is that they’ll be able to mine their dense roster for talent in different circumstances.

“The one thing I’m impressed with is our depth. We’ve got a lot of talent on the team at a number of different positions,” he said.

Stoddard hasn’t designated a starting quarterback yet adding his top two prospects are making it a very tough decision for the coaching staff.

Competing for the job is Jesse St. John and Stuart Mackenzie who, according to their coach, are both tremendous athletes, tall and have strong arms.

The coach says, no matter the quarterback, Andy Collison a wide receiver with good hands and route running ability will provide a spark.

On defense, Stoddard was impressed by the team’s depth at defensive back, saying the team has a number of talented players at the safety and cornerback positions.

Stoddard expects safety Matthew Boateng, a smooth, well-rounded athlete, to do big things for the team.

As for preparation for that first game against Kingston, Stoddard says the recent spouts of rain across Southern Ontario have affected the team’s practices.

“We actually haven’t been able to practice for a week and a half,” he said. “We’ve got a lot to implement particularly on special teams between now on Saturday.”

Stoddard is still preparing for Kingston and expects he’ll have to put together a flexible game plan come Saturday.

“Right now what we’re doing is breaking down film on Kingston and basically we’re going to do what we do and we will adjust throughout the game.”