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Show mnmnnttiinnnmmminimiHnrtfHOT MONDAY, AUGUST 21, 2000 THE SU miuiiiHHtiHiimin . 5 L Croshaws gang gears up for new season offinasi! By Stephen Editor-in-Chi- Vincent stvmcem77hotmaiI.com They were close last year. Real close. Dixie Colleges late r rally fell short in the Dixie Rotary Bowl last year, as the Rebels fell to No. 2 Butler County, Kansas, Greg Croshaw and his staff are ready to move on, as are his players, since few of this years team was on the squad one year ago. In the the Rebels signed the highly touted Junior Mahe, a transfer from Brigham Young University. Mahe could undoubtedly be the next in a long line of great Dixie running backs, a list that includes the Cincinnati Bengals Corey o selection last year. Dillon, an Mahes partner in the backfield has yet to be determined. Most of the positions on the Rebel squad are still up in the air. Were still trying to weed it down, said head football coach Greg Croshaw, one of junior college footballs most successful coaches. Were starting to get an idea who will end up where. The Rebels will barely have three weeks of practice to pare down 120 players to the Western States Football League maximum of 75 players. As of last week, few spots had been secured. But the coaches had seen some fourth-quarte- 49-3- Head Coach: Greg Croshaw Career Record: 1999 Record: 11-- 1 Conference: Western States Football 155-49-- 2 League Conference Finish: Champions National Finish: 3rd 2000 Ranking: No. 7 Games Against Ranked Teams: 4 Site of the Action: Hansen Stadium Key Returners: Shawn Kojima, John Watson Key Newcomers: Junior Mahe, Quinn Christensen, Brandon Boyer Outlook: The WSFL will most likely come down to the three northern schools: Dixie, Ricks, and Snow. All-Pr- bright spots. One thing is certain, although it is a while off, the Rebels will face a tough test in their last game. Dixie will travel to play Ricks for what could be the last time. And it could be the last game ever played in Rexburg. An extra amount of pressure that Croshaw could do without. But for now, Croshaw is just hoping to get his team ready for the opener. Dixie has transfers from Division I nearly a programs, who could help the program immediately. They bring a lot of leadership and experience, said Croshaw of the transfers. Even if they were just redshirts at the universities, they still had to go up against the varsity every day in practice. While who will be playing where may still be up in the air, Croshaw is already seeing the foundation for another great year. These guys are every bit as good as the guys we had play last year, said Croshaw. But he is still cautious as to what to expect. Three years ago, we had what I thought was a great team. Then we went down to Tyler, Texas, for our first game. And on our first two series, we lost three defensive linemen. We ended up losing about 1 7 players to injuries that year. And we ended up having, for us, a very average year. Croshaw also cites unity as the most important element to a successful football team. So far, Croshaw thinks his team will have a strong chemistry. Thats probably the most encouraging thing Ive seen, said Croshaw. The Rebels season starts on Saturday. half-doze- n DIXIE STATE OF UTAH COLLEGE Dixie State College 11-- 1 0-- 0 7th 1999 record 2000 record Rank Last year: Dixie 48, J. 6 7 p.m. Live Radio by 890 A.M.: KDXU the first game, and we dont want to put too much pressure on the Rebels, but the proved last year that they just cant hang with Dixie ... 7 Dixie State 31, Prediction: Its All-Sta- Brought to you. by DODD TTDqcb DDoiiq yf0n9E3ti. 2 NA All-Sta- When: Saturday, Aug. 26, Where: Hansen Stadium Friday, August 25 at Cinema 6 "ft 0-- 0-- 0 All-Sta- |