Summerfield believes it can build on last year’s football success

PETERSBURG – Summerfield football coach Dylan Szegedi got a pleasant surprise as he started building his roster for the 2025 season.

Six seniors who didn’t play last fall told him they wanted to join the team.

What happened?

“We didn’t have to say anything to them,” said senior lineman Hayden Dusseau of the newcomers. “They wanted to come out and play for this team.”

More: Here are the key dates for Monroe County Region football teams

Winning will do that.

Summerfield won five games or less in every season but one from 2018 to 2023.

Head coach Dylan Szegedi explains a defensive alignment during Summerfield football training camp on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025.

Aside from a 6-4 mark in 2021, the Bulldogs finished with four or five wins in all six of those years.

Things changed last fall.

The Bulldogs were 8-1 in the regular season, claimed the Tri-County Conference championship and qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2021.

That has sparked a passion for football in the halls of Summerfield High School.

“Last year was a special group,” Szegedi said. “We had really, really good kids. It was a great group that meshed together as a unit and pulled out wins.”

Many of the skill-position players from that team were lost to graduation, but most of the linemen are back.

Four of the five offensive linemen return to the spots they played in 2024 along with three of the four on defense.

“The line is setting the tone this year,” said senior two-way lineman Nathan Wadsworth. “We have a lot of experience in the line and great team chemistry.

“We should have a really strong line. We’ve been playing together since middle school.”

The winning attitude the Bulldogs built last season should pay dividends.

Allen Roof makes a catch over Mason Trout during Summerfield football training camp on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025.

“What happened last year was a good thing,” Szegedi said. “The guys learned that they shouldn’t expect 5-4 seasons all the time. They want to be 6-3, 7-2 or 8-1.”

Szegedi has seen the upperclassmen taking charge and showing the younger guys what it takes to be a winning program.

“They are really stepping up and setting the rules,” the coach said.

Reece Kalb, who was the backup last year to Trace Secor, will take over at quarterback.

“He was asked to come into many pressure situations last season,” Szegedi said. “In every one of those situations, he performed very well. As a senior, we are expecting big things from Reece.”

Kalb has taken command of the offense.

Defensive linement run a drill Summerfield football training camp on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025.

“He has continually improved, day after day, this summer,” Szegedi said. “He has the potential to have a very successful senior season. I am very excited to watch him perform.”

Kalb is ready for the challenge.

“Our offense has changed a lot,” he said. “We lost a lot of good players. We won’t have as much speed, but our offense should be a lot of fun.”

The quarterback believes the Bulldogs will have fun by winning games.

“I think we could have as good a record as last year, if not better,” he said. “We just have to take care of business.”

Wadsworth agrees.

“There were low expectations for us coming into last year,” he said. “We blew them out of the water. I expect the same thing this year.”