NWADG Prep Rally Football Playoff

12 PREP RALLY PLAYOFF: THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2017 T R E E S E R V I C E PR A I R I E GR O V E 4 7 9 - 6 0 1 - 5 5 9 1 4 7 9 - 8 4 6 - 43 3 3 PAUL BOYD NWA Democrat-Gazette ROGERS — Dusty Schureman is pretty easy to spot on the football field. His long blonde, curly locks can be seen overflowing out the bottom of his helmet. e senior's not an extravert by nature. But the 6-foot-2, 235-pound tackles lets his strong work habits and positive attitude help shepherd a Rogers High offensive line,which includes three sophomores. Rogers, the No. 6 seed from the 7A-West, travels to Conway on Friday for the second consecutive year to open the Class 7A playoffs. e Mounties (5-5) were eliminated by the Wampus Cats (7- 3), the No. 3 seed from the 7A-Central, last season. He's the lone returning starter on the offensive line from last year's Mounties team, which secured a winning season and earned a playoff bid. Schureman has been a big key to helping Rogers High make a return trip to the playoffs this season, Mounties coach Mike Loyd said. "Schureman's not a rah-rah type leader," Loyd said. "He's a genuine young man with a good heart. He's undersized at 230 or so in 7A going up against some big defensive linemen every Friday, giving up 30 or 40 pounds. "He's trying to lead three sophomores and a couple of juniors who hadn't really taken any varsity snaps. Dusty has stayed the course and just tries to do his job. Last year he was the inexperienced guy and he had some seniors. Now, he's got sophomore kids trying to remember the snap count." Schureman said he's tried to help younger players, just like several seniors did for him a year ago. But he's also been pushed out of his comfort zone some, too. "I've had to learn to be more vocal, not in a bad way," Schureman said."It's more me learning to communicate in a way we will all understand. at's a change for me. I'm more of a get to it and get it done kind of person." He moved to Arizona for a couple of years, but returned for the second semester of his sophomore year. Schureman's been a two-year starter at tackle since he returned. "Coming back to the program, I learned a lot from guys like senior Jackson Bray and Ryan Snyder," Schureman said. "Now, I'm trying to help the younger plays by teaching them things that may need to be corrected. Just basic stuff, doing the little things right." He was forced to trim up his long hair at least so it didn't hang out of the helmet in Arizona. "I played for my uncle out there," Schureman said. "He was really strict." Loyd had no such restrictions. He saw a little of himself from his youth in Schureman, especially with his long hair. "Back when I had hair, mine was exactly like his," Loyd said. "I kinda get a little snicker myself when I look at him. It doesn't bother me any." Loyd thought of moving Schureman to center in preseason practice this year in order to help lead a young, inexperienced offensive line. "We wanted to move him there so he could kind of control things inside out," Loyd said. "But we needed him on the perimeter." Schureman said it's recently hit him that his time to play high school football is coming to a close soon. "It's hit me hard," Schureman said. "I'm going to miss playing with these guys." But he also has a dream to play college football and Loyd said Schureman has that potential. "He's an extremely hard worker and has good footwork," Loyd said. "I think he could play some small college football at a Ouachita Baptist or Arkansas Tech." But for now, Schureman will try lead the Mounties into the second round of the state playoffs. Senior Schureman leads young Mounties' offensive line AT A GLANCE DUSTY SCHUREMAN SCHOOL Rogers High HEIGHT 6-2 WEIGHT 235 CLASS Senior POSITION Offensive tackle NOTABLE Two-year starter on the offensive line for the Mounties. … Moved to Queen Creek, Ariz., before his eighth-grade year, but moved back to Rogers for the second semester of his sophomore year. Rogers Mounties (5-5) DATE OPPONENT RESULT Sept. 1 .....................at Siloam Springs...........................W 34-33 Sept. 8 .....................Claremore, Okla. ............................W 28-25 Sept. 15 ..................St. Louis Normandy ......................W 42-0 Sept. 22 ..................at Springdale Har-Ber* ................L 49-0 Sept. 29 ..................Rogers Heritage* ...........................W 43-33 Oct. 6 .......................Fayetteville* ....................................L 52-14 Oct. 13 ....................at Van Buren* ..................................W 24-17 Oct. 20 ....................Bentonville* .....................................L 63-19 Oct. 27 ....................Bentonville West* ..........................L 35-13 Nov. 3 ......................at Springdale High* ......................L 40-23 Nov. 10 ....................at Conway ........................................7pm * — denotes 7A-West Conference games CLASS 7A

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