NORTH DIGHTON— It’s the dawn of a new era of high school football in Dighton.
After going down to just 38 players as a program last year, 15 of which graduated this past June, Dighton-Rehoboth was in need of reinforcements. Luckily for the Falcons, on the other side of town at Bristol County Agricultural High School, there were some students interested in playing a sport not offered at their school.
With that, the Dighton-Rehoboth/Bristol Aggie football co-op was born, and though just a few months old, the players have already come together as a unit.
“They were able to come to the weight room this summer, so the guys are ingrained into our program now,” D-R/BA coach Kevin Gousie said. “We really preach family here and they’ve embraced it as the kids from D-R have embraced it. We’re just a team now. No more D-R and BA, just the Dighton-Rehoboth/Bristol Aggie football team.”
As for the group of players themselves, Gousie said they’re a “green football team with experience,” with a core of young players with little to no varsity players supported by some upperclassmen leaders, including senior defensive ends Xavier Landry and Gavin Salera, as well as receivers/defensive backs senior Evan Thibert and junior Kensley Macean.
“They’ve continued to grow as football players and they’ve definitely grown as leaders,” Gousie said. “We’re going to lean heavy on those guys this year because they’re some of the guys that have experience (and) all of them are talented.”
This group will be tasked with filling some key roles, with 2023 Taunton Daily Gazette All-Scholastic quarterback/safety Joel DaSilva and running back/linebacker Kevin Gousie Jr. both having graduated. At quarterback, sophomore Christian Bielawski and seniors Ashtyn Tavares and Yasiel Rodriguez are in the mix to lead the offense. As for the backfield, sophomore running back Cole Gifford looks set to step up along with senior Jack Swan. Macean, who largely played out of the backfield last fall, will take on more snaps as a receiver but should still figure into the Falcons’ run game.
FOOTBALL
‘Green, but experienced’: D-R/Bristol Aggie co-op mixes schools, experience on gridiron
The Taunton Daily Gazette
AD
0:50
SKIP
NORTH DIGHTON— It’s the dawn of a new era of high school football in Dighton.
After going down to just 38 players as a program last year, 15 of which graduated this past June, Dighton-Rehoboth was in need of reinforcements. Luckily for the Falcons, on the other side of town at Bristol County Agricultural High School, there were some students interested in playing a sport not offered at their school.
With that, the Dighton-Rehoboth/Bristol Aggie football co-op was born, and though just a few months old, the players have already come together as a unit.
“They were able to come to the weight room this summer, so the guys are ingrained into our program now,” D-R/BA coach Kevin Gousie said. “We really preach family here and they’ve embraced it as the kids from D-R have embraced it. We’re just a team now. No more D-R and BA, just the Dighton-Rehoboth/Bristol Aggie football team.”
As for the group of players themselves, Gousie said they’re a “green football team with experience,” with a core of young players with little to no varsity players supported by some upperclassmen leaders, including senior defensive ends Xavier Landry and Gavin Salera, as well as receivers/defensive backs senior Evan Thibert and junior Kensley Macean.
ADVERTISING
“They’ve continued to grow as football players and they’ve definitely grown as leaders,” Gousie said. “We’re going to lean heavy on those guys this year because they’re some of the guys that have experience (and) all of them are talented.”
This group will be tasked with filling some key roles, with 2023 Taunton Daily Gazette All-Scholastic quarterback/safety Joel DaSilva and running back/linebacker Kevin Gousie Jr. both having graduated. At quarterback, sophomore Christian Bielawski and seniors Ashtyn Tavares and Yasiel Rodriguez are in the mix to lead the offense. As for the backfield, sophomore running back Cole Gifford looks set to step up along with senior Jack Swan. Macean, who largely played out of the backfield last fall, will take on more snaps as a receiver but should still figure into the Falcons’ run game.
D-R/BA comes into the season off a 3-7 finish last year, going winless in the South Coast Blue but ending the fall winning two of their final four games. For Gousie, who admits his team will be a bit of a work in progress to start the year again, his main goal is for the Falcons to simply play some good football.
“I’ve always felt whoever blocks and tackles the best on a football field is the team that usually comes away with the win, so we’re really going to stress the fundamentals, be fundamentally sound and let the chips fall where they may,” Gousie said. “I think we’ve got a talented group of kids, (but the challenge) is just going to be catching them up to the speed of varsity football.”
Another part of that for Gousie is making sure the team grows and improves on its culture, working towards their goals while being able to be counted on by both their teammates and coaches alike.
“Every year, we’re trying to ask them to do more and more and have a little bit more of a commitment,” Gousie said. “We had a couple of guys that were late today, so we’re trying to change that so that they understand the importance of being here and being able to be counted on.”
Still, it’s early, and Gousie has full faith in his squad to be able to live up to its potential.
“I think we could play some really good football,” Gousie said.
The Falcons kick off the 2024 season on Sept. 6 at 6:30 p.m. at home against Nauset. All home games will be played at D-R’s football stadium.