Roseburg football player Dakota Cavens 'Bleeding Orange and Black'

Firewood smoke, cold rain and Thurman Bell’s occasional barks fill the air as the downpour begins to let up at Finlay Field.

Bell hovers around an endzone, watching as Dakota Cavens launches another football into the air from the 35-yard line.

“No good,” the coach yells. “That only went 15 yards. Again.”

With the same alacrity as before, Cavens tries again, this time with an improved result.

On a nasty day like today, when cheerleaders stay inside and potential praise from a coach usually stays locked to the chest, it’s profound what Bell says next in the equipment room.

“I’d like to have 100 just like him,” Bell said of Cavens. “It’s not by accident we are able to down so many balls inside the 10 and 5.”

Cavens, a 17-year-old senior punter, tight end and defensive end, has been a pillar of consistency for the Indians during a time of steadying turbulence. He’s accumulated a 39-yard punting average and registered 19 catches for 277 yards, all while improving as a blocker.

When Bell watches Cavens, the 38-year coach sees flashes of Kyle Loomis, a recent Roseburg graduate who punted for Oregon State University for one season. Loomis is Bell’s measuring stick of success for punters, and Cavens has prompted him to make the comparison.

“The difference is Kyle was just a kicking specialist,” Bell said. “Dakota’s legs and body take more of a beating and he’s going to fatigue a little bit. But (Cavens) has a nice long swing and a big arch.

“He has an awfully strong leg and if he concentrated on that and got with a punting specialist he could have a bright future.”

Ironically enough, Loomis was an upperclassman and Cavens a freshman when the two shared a junior/senior weightlifting class.

“It was intimidating,” Cavens said. “But they were nice guys.”

When teammates talk about Cavens, they call him a good guy, a goofball, a friend to all, an intense player, even an inspiration.

When Cavens lines up, quarterback Thaddeus Davis says he’s got a playmaker.

“He’s very trustworthy,” Davis said. “I feel like I can throw him the ball and he’ll make every play. It’s not like I have to put it right on him.”

When Roseburg must punt, Cavens is just as capable of coming up big.

“He can make plays on snaps,” said assistant coach Troy Thompson, who works with the tight ends.

Though Roseburg earned its 17th straight playoff berth after defeating North Medford 42-14 last Friday, the Indians are in the midst of their worst season since 1979. Cavens’ play has been a bright spot.

“We’ve had our ups and downs,” Cavens said. “We are growing and getting stronger. We’re really a good team.”

Cavens specializes in a high, short kick — used when Roseburg is trying to “drop in something like a sandwedge,” Bell said. It gives the Indian receivers time to get to the ball. The goal, of course, is to get inside the 10, and Cavens has done that a number of times.

“I think about five or six of his punts we’ve been able to down inside the 5-yard-line this year, which has been big for us,” Bell said.

Masters of the art know timing and ball placement are important. A good drop is a must. But first ...

“We gotta get the thing back to him and in a hurry,” Bell said. “That gives him time so he can kick in rhythm.”

Enter the snapper, senior Brandon Galvez.

“I don’t want to jinx him, but he’s done a really good job,” Bell said.

And height is key.

“It gives your guys time to cover,” Cavens said.

Really, though ...

“When you don’t think about it is when you punt the best,” Cavens said.

Against Aloha, Cavens landed a punt at around the Warriors’ 3-yard line, setting up a safety.

“The thing just took off out of sight, and the comment was, ‘Was that Loomis?’” Bell said.

Cavens has earned the respect of the team’s other strong leg, kicker Lucas Walker.

“He has a way stronger leg than I do,” Walker said.

But Cavens is undersized as a tight end — maybe by 20 pounds, he and Bell agreed.

“I have tried putting weight on,” Cavens said. “My metabolism is high. I eat a lot of food.”

But against Beaverton, something clicked, or maybe snapped, and Cavens got physical.

“The first couple of games I got chewed out a lot and I wasn’t blocking very well,” Cavens said. “I had never played tight end before and was just getting thrown around. Then I decided I should change.”

Thompson, also Roseburg’s head baseball coach, has witnessed Cavens’ growth. He watched Cavens excel on the mound last spring and summer for the Indians and Dr. Stewarts.

“The kid ... I mean the young man ... has been more than willing to do his part in whatever we are doing, be it baseball or football,” Thompson said. “He could always catch the ball and run good routes, but he’s worked really hard on the physical part of blocking.”

Cavens’ father, Randy, played for Bell in the early 1970s before Dakota was a ball boy for the Roseburg football team.

“His dad played fullback for us. For quite a few years, he had our single-game rushing record (with 323 yards),” Bell recalled quickly.

Cavens has been a punter since he was in seventh grade at Fremont Middle School. When he played forward in soccer, everybody told him he had a boot.

“My parents and everybody told me I had a strong leg,” Cavens said.

He’s played quarterback, wide receiver, free safety, cornerback, linebacker and even some running back in the eighth grade. Cavens broke his hand in the Orange and Black scrimmage and played behind tight end A.J. Royal after missing five games his junior year.

Now, Cavens is as strong as ever, and he’s loving life. The family man, who said he’d like to punt and play baseball for a college, values the support that his parents, Randy and Sandra, his sisters and grandparents have shown him.

“It is my senior year,” said Cavens, who’s interested in studying engineering and architecture. “I want to have fun and not have any regrets.”

• You can reach sports reporter Dan Jones at 957-4219 or by e-mail at djones@nrtoday.com