By GREG KEIM
The term “role model” is often overused in the world of sports.
Such is not the case when talking about NorthWood High School football coach Rich Dodson who guided the North All-Stars to a 20-13 victory Friday night at North Central of Indianapolis in the 43rd annual All-Star Game.
Dodson announced his retirement after 17 seasons as NW head coach, leading the Panthers to a 169-50 record and a Class 3A state championship in 2005.
After his post-game talk, one of the North players brought tears to the coach’s eyes by urging his teammates to shout “Dodson” during the post-game celebration.
“That was nice of the kids to recognize me like that,” said the coach. “This is a great way for me to go out. It was a great week and I had a lot of fun with these young men. I got close to this group. I’m in football heaven. I wish more coaches could get the opportunity to experience this.
“My only regret is that two of the North players were injured.”
Two of Dodson’s former players at NorthWood — 6-3 (215) quarterback Skyler Titus and 6-2 (195) punter Brandon Williams — played key roles in the victory.
Titus completed 5 of 10 passes for 43 yards, including an 18-yard scoring strike to 6-1 (175) Kevin Piet of Valparaiso at 10:09 of the second quarter to tie the score 7-7.
Titus was the North’s leading rusher with 45 yards on seven carries including a long of 18.
Titus, who will be a preferred walk-on at Purdue, earned the Tyler W. Roth MVP award. He is the first Elkhart County player to win the honor since Rick Mirer of Goshen tossed three TDs in a 41-6 win back in 1989.
“What more can I say about Skyler,” Dodson said. “The kid is a winner.”
Titus took over the quarterback’s role during his freshman season and accounted for NorthWood’s only score in its 7-0 state championship win over Chatard by tossing a TD pass to Brent Ehret.
“It was great we could win this game with Coach (Dodson),” Titus said. “I was glad to share this with him. He has been a big part of my life. The whole team warmed up to him.”
Williams, who will be a preferred walk-on at Northwestern, punted five times for an average of 44.4 yards. Three of his punts were inside the South’s 20 and a 56-yarder in the first quarter went out at the 3.
“A couple of my punts felt good. It was nice this week only having to think about punting instead of playing another position,” he said. “Everyone knows of Coach Dodson’s reputation. It has been a blessing to have him as a coach.”
The NorthWood connections didn’t end there as Nate Andrews, who represented the Panthers as a player in 1996, was an assistant coach for the South.
“This week meant a lot to me,” he said. “It was a very emotional time since I saw a lot of people who my Dad (the late Jim Andrews) hung around with.”
Dodson, who is Nate’s stepfather said, “Nate is a special kid. I love him to death. He will get his chance to coach here some day.”
Nate Yoder, 6-3 (300) offensive lineman, became just the third Fairfield player in the contest. Others were Andre Fisher in 1991 and Ryan Hildenbrand in 2007.
“It was great to get a win for Coach Dodson,” Yoder said. “He is serious in practice, but also knows there is a time to have fun. During drills he was serious before cracking jokes during breaks.
“It’s an honor to represent Fairfield. Not many of the other players had even heard of Fairfield. Playing in this game is a nice way to give something back to the school and a community that has given me so much.”
Concord ended up being represented by two players — 6-4 (235) defensive lineman David House and 5-8 (175) defensive back JaVontae Hence.
Hence was added to the team during the week when another player had to leave camp to take a college entrance exam.
Josh Ruben, 6-3 (185) wide receiver from Jimtown, caught a pass for nine yards.
