Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

NORTH LIBERTY – Dallas Miller gave an ‘awe shucks’ smile at the question.

Teammate Sutton Koller nodded sheepishly almost as if he’d been caught when presented with the same inquiry.

The question – did graduated quarterback Graham Beckman make you look good last season?

“He definitely did,” Kolller said with a smile.

Koller and Miller laughed at the question but got seriously quickly when pressed with another.

How does that role change this season with Beckman and his more than 5,000 passing yards and 59 touchdowns off to Iowa Western?

“Graham helped us a lot, but now it’s our turn to do that,” Koller explained. “He would help us, he knew more than us (last year) but now it’s changed with us being seniors and having a young QB. We try to help him out a lot.”

Koller, Miller and fellow senior Owen Drapeaux definitely benefitted from playing in an offense run by Beckman who ranked third in the state in passing yards last season.

Yet make no mistake those three seniors deserve plenty of credit for their role in an explosive Lightning offense that put up better than 37.4 points and 442 total yards per game in a 4-5 season last fall.

Beckman is gone but the trio of Koller, Miller and Drapeaux return along with the orchestrator of that offense, Scott Chandler who makes the move from offensive coordinator to head coach.

Now it’s time for those seniors to return the favor and help make the first-year quarterback that replaces Beckman look good.

“We are all seniors this year and a couple of us have played the last two years and we have a younger quarterback coming in so we just try to tell him he’s good and build him up,” Drapeaux said. “We’re trying to lead with our experience.”

Koller, Miller and Owen Drapeaux all bring a different set of skills to the offense.

The one thing they have in common – they all make things happen with the ball in their hands.

That trio combined for 2,570 yards from scrimmage and 33 touchdowns a year ago.

That’s a lot of production from a uniquely talented trio of playmakers.

“We are going to have to lean on our playmakers,” Chandler said. “And those guys are playmakers.”

Drapeaux is the power in a backfield combination with the speedy Koller.

The 6-foot-1, 210-pound back has rushed for 854 yards and seven touchdowns in two varsity seasons.

Last year Drapeaux rushed for a team-leading 517 yards and five touchdowns and also caught 11 passes for 103 yards and a touchdown.

“We’ve been playing together forever,” Drapeaux said. “We have a lot of good athletes and a lot of competitors in this group.”

Koller is a versatile scat back capable of making plays all over the field, accounting for 1,146 yards from scrimmage and 15 touchdowns last season.

“I learned a lot last year,” Koller said. “I am really learning how to be patient, last year I was patient but I wasn’t patient enough. I think patience is really key in the backfield just letting everything develop and going from there.”

The 5-foot-11, 175-pound Koller caught 59 passes for a team-leading 816 yards and eight touchdowns and also rushed for 330 yards while averaging 4.5 yards per carry.

“I haven’t found what he doesn’t do well,” Chandler said of Koller. “He can block, he can catch the ball, he can run the ball well on defense he will come up and hit people and he can cover. He’s a great all-around football player.”

Miller is a lightning quick receiver that established himself as one of the best in the state last season.

The 5-foot-11, 170-pounder expects to be even better as a senior.

“I just have to make more plays for our team,” Miller said. “I’ve been working on running better routes, catching the ball more and just being a leader for our team.”

Miller ranked in the top 10 in Class 5A in both receptions (60), receiving yards (804) and led 5A with 12 touchdown catches.

He averaged 13.4 yards per reception last season.

“He’s got pretty good short-area quickness and a burst where he can get to his top speed really quickly,” Chandler said of Miller. “He’s a guy that can work in smaller areas but can also route you up and get open in space.”

Koller, Drapeaux and Miller all established themselves as on-field playmakers last fall.

This year they have a new responsibility, emerging as leaders.

“It’s a huge responsibility but that’s what we want,” Miller said. “We want to be the leaders on this team.”

The trio took on that leadership role this summer, getting in extra work that didn’t go unnoticed from the first-year head coach.

“These guys are guys that are constantly wanting to improve, they aren’t satisfied with what they have done,” Chandler said. “They’ve been spending extra time this summer, watching film and running routes and I’ve been really impressed with their work ethic.”

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