Fort Dodge’s Sam Daniel: ‘Amazing Feeling’ Playing In Week 1

After everything that went down during the offseason, just getting the opportunity to step foot inside Dodger Stadium and compete with his Fort Dodge Senior High teammates was pure joy for [player_tooltip player_id="23876" first="Sam" last="Daniel"]. Now, following a victory over Ames, the Dodgers are riding high into a Week 2 contest at arch-rival Mason City. The Decker Sporting Good trophy will be on the line, which Fort Dodge has held since its inception in 2005. Daniel played a big role in an 81-54 Week 1 victory at home, scoring a rushing touchdowns, returning a kickoff back for a score and picking off two passes on defense. The senior co-captain also recovered an onside kick, but was not pleased by the final number posted from Ames. "Seeing the score at the end of the game bothered me a little bit," Daniel said. "As a defense, we shouldn’t have given up that many points, but we’ll fix our mistakes and move forward and focus on Week 2." Daniel finished with five carries for 48 yards and a score on the ground as part of a 40-rush, 493-yard, 7-TD showing by the Dodger run game. He also had a pair of solo tackles on defense and 135 kickoff return yards. "Offensively, it was great," Daniel said. "Eighty-one points, Dayson (Clayton) had an amazing game and the offensive line played really well." As a junior, Daniel had 42 tackles with 35 solo stops, four interceptions and two fumble recoveries. He returned one of his picks for a touchdown. "After everything that has happened during the offseason, the feeling to be playing under the lights at Dodger Stadium is unbelievable," Daniel said. "It was an amazing feeling to contribute to my team in so many ways, but it wouldn’t have been done without the help of all my teammates. "I am hopeful to have a full season, but it’s not guaranteed, so I just take it week-by-week and try and give it my all; try and support the team in as many ways as possible." Earlier this year, Daniel received an offer from Quincy University to continue his playing career. He has also had interest from several other schools.