Michael Pineda
BRAY — At some point this season, Bray-Doyle football coach Warren Butler had to have thought that without bad luck, he would have had no luck at all.
Defections, injuries and a healthy dose of bad luck undid the Bray-Doyle football season as the Donkeys turned in an 0-10 mark. The bad luck reared its ugly head at the beginning of the season when the Donkeys lost six starters during practice and into the season, where injuries either cost players their season or kept them from playing at full strength.
Through it all, Butler drew comfort from the fact that every week, he got effort from his team.
“They never quit,” Butler said. “They came out and scored the second most points against Ringling in the regular season and they made a major improvement on offense.”
The Donkeys were able to make strides despite employing a candidate of the week at quarterback because of an injury to Cody Douthit. Douthit suffered an injury to his shoulder in Week 2 and never really recovered, making Bray-Doyle a one-dimensional team.
Butler was pleased with the play he got out of a young backfield with Josh Butler and Broadi Helton playing key roles as well as the growth of the offensive line, which started three freshmen in the last two games of the season.
Another plus was the addition of a tight end in Heath Maxwell, who was able to play a contributing role in the passing game.
Defensively, the Donkeys took a hit with injuries, particularly at linebacker where Robert Jensen was lost for the year during the season. There were also some other key losses during the season as some players turned in their uniforms.
“Anytime you lose good athletes it hurts at a school this size,” Butler said. “You need everybody out.”
With the season in the rearview mirror, those on the football team that have not moved on to other sports are already working toward next season with the hopes of turning it around in 2010.
“We are trying to get the kids back together and keep their attitudes good,” Butler said. “Next year in district, you have to win three games to get in the playoffs.”
The district will be made up of seven teams with two of the top five, Elmore City and Maysville, moving on to other pastures. Those teams will remain on the Bray-Doyle schedule in addition to Dibble.
The key for Butler and the Donkeys will be to get all hands on deck for the upcoming season.
“We have some young kids coming up that are pretty good,” Butler said. “We just need to get the kids in the junior class back out for football. If all my juniors play, we will be decent.”
