FAYETTEVILLE -- Mitchell Dutton and several of his Fayetteville soccer teammates were forced to grow up in a hurry. But with a full season of varsity competition tucked away, Dutton is out to show a strong sophomore class of Bulldogs is ready to take the boys' program to the next level.
"Definitely playing a lot last year helped," Dutton said. "We're still young, so it's still hard but I think all the sophomores have stepped up this year and we're still going strong."
Profile
Mitchell Dutton
School: Fayetteville
Class: Sophomore
Position: Midfield
Notable: Two-year letterman. … One of leading scorers for Bulldogs this season. … Part of sophomore group who earned valuable playing time as freshmen.
Dutton was one of several Bulldogs who was thrust into a key role as a freshman last season. While Fayetteville did have its share of senior leaders on a team that advanced to the 7A state tournament, the strong freshman class was counted on in a big way to play valuable minutes.
Now many of those freshmen, including Dutton at his midfielder position, are some of the leaders on the team.
"Basically that whole freshman group last year got a whole good mix," Fayetteville boys soccer coach Steve Oliver said. "Mitchell, he's did a lot last year and he's doing what we need him to do for us this year."
Fayetteville (7-3, 2-0 7A/6A-West) has used a balanced attack on offense to get off to a strong start this season. While Dutton is one of the Bulldogs' top threats, he isn't the only one.
"We've been able to spread the scoring around pretty evenly," Oliver said. "Mitchell, he's been one of our leading scorers but it's been pretty balanced and that's a good thing."
Oliver credits the upperclassmen from last year's Fayetteville team with the development of players like Dutton, Jonathon Dellery, Harry Morante and Jon Fagg, several of the sophomores who contributed a year ago.
"The seniors and juniors did a tremendous job of bringing those guys along," Oliver said. "They're still learning and they're still young. Last year a lot of those guys were playing and some were coming off the bench and now a lot of the sophomores are starters. So that's a big change."
Dutton sees no reason why Fayetteville can't continue on the path towards another 7A tournament appearance this season. And even though the Bulldogs count on a young group to lead the way, the progress being made appears evident.
"We always say we want to keep the snowball rolling," Dutton said. "We just want to keep building it up."
Sports on 04/13/2014