- April 19, 2024
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From left, FPC quarterback Preston Roberts, running back Dakoda Wagner and quarterback D.J. Murray. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC's RPO offense will keep teams guessing. QB Preston Roberts gets set to pass, while Dakoda Wagner takes a handoff from D.J. Murray. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Flagler Palm Coast quarterback Preston Roberts may not have plans to cut his long blond locks, but running back Dakoda Wagner will have to chop his off. He wants to incorporate his crewcut into a signing day celebration.
Wagner has committed to play football next year at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, so his long hair will no longer be an option.
“I was kind of figuring it would be a signing day kind of thing, have my teammates shave it off,” Wagner said. “I think that would be interesting.”
“I like that,” Roberts said.
The two seniors could play major roles for the Bulldogs this season in new head coach Robert Paxia’s run-pass option scheme.
Paxia is not new to the Bulldogs. He graduated from FPC in 2008. He was an offensive lineman on the football team and won a state weightlifting championship along the way. He also began his coaching career as an assistant with the Bulldogs.
His return has brought an excitement to the team.
“I think it’s a phenomenal hire,” said Roberts, who is making a return of his own.
FPC’s starting quarterback last year, Roberts transferred to Matanzas after the season and participated in spring practice with the Pirates. Now he is back with the Bulldogs.
“After the spring game, (my parents and I) were trying to figure out what we should do, because my senior year has to be a big year for me. Going into senior year I really wasn’t where I wanted to be,” he said. “Once Coach Paxia got here we talked with friends, we talked with former teammates and they were talking about how great it is here, so I decided to come back.”
Roberts is battling with sophomore D.J. Murray for the starting quarterback spot. Both QBs like what they’ve seen so far in fall practice.
“It’s built like a new program, a new bond with everybody, a new everything,” Roberts said.
“I like the way the offense runs, it’s very smooth,” Murray said. “I feel like it gives us more of an opportunity to make plays, keep the defense guessing.”
The players say the RPO scheme is nothing new, but two days into practice they were already feeling more confident than ever running the plays.
“It’s all the same concepts that we did before, but a lot faster tempo,” senior offensive lineman Nick Blumengarten said. “Coach Paxia coming in is just bringing a fresh light to everything.”
Wagner said the offense is feeling more fluid.
“Everything is opening up a lot better,” he said. “And Coach makes sure we refine all of our plays before we move on to other plays.”
“We have a script every day, how things start and how things finish. That consistency is what’s making (the offense) so smooth.”
PRESTON ROBERTS
Said Roberts: “It’s almost like we’re running through a script. We have a script every day, how things start and how things finish. That consistency is what’s making (the offense) so smooth.”
While Roberts is trying to regain his job, the 6-foot-1, 210-pound Wagner is heading into the 2021 season as the starting running back for the first time in his high school career. He became the starter late last season after an injury.
“This year he’s going to show who he is,” Blumengarten said.
Army coaches have seen enough of Wagner already to recruit him.
“I definitely feel very blessed to have the opportunity to go to West Point because not too many people actually get to do that,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve talked about the bonds I’ll form with a lot of my (future) teammates there. It’s really going to be like no other place.”
But first Wagner and his teammates want to get their new coach’s tenure off on the right foot.
