West Side’s Marcell Dixon is relishing every moment he plays.
After suffering a broken tibia and fibula in his right leg early last season, requiring surgery, Dixon wants to do it all in his senior year. So the 5-foot-9, 155-pound quarterback intends to compete for the Cougars in swimming in the winter and track and field in the spring.
“It’s amazing,” Dixon said. “I never thought I would touch the field again. It’s just amazing to be with my team again for my last year.
“It was really hard. I really thought I wasn’t ever going to touch the field again. But people kept telling me, ‘You’ll go back. You’ll go back.’ And I just went back.”
Dixon suffered the injury when he was tackled on a 50-yard reception against East Chicago Central in Week 2 last season. A metal plate and screws were inserted in his leg. He tried to come back for track in the spring, but he wasn’t quite recovered.
“He’s overcome a lot,” West Side football coach Alger Boswell said. “He’s really worked his tail off to get here. He worked his butt off for about nine months and got back strong enough to get back out here.”
Dixon is back for the Cougars but at a different position, taking over under center. He had been a wide receiver and free safety for his first three seasons, and he was particularly effective in the secondary.
Dixon, who played quarterback as an eighth grader in his debut in the sport, completed 22 of 44 passes for 348 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions in West Side’s first two games, both of which were wins. He also rushed for 64 yards on eight carries.
“I’ve really been trying to work on getting my reads better, getting my arm power up,” Dixon said. “It’s kind of hard. Me not playing quarterback for three years, it’s hard to work going over the reads again. I have to get my mind back to it.”
After three-year starting quarterback Guiseppe Moore graduated, Dixon inquired about the opportunity to fill the void.
“He asked to make the switch to quarterback, and he’s done a great job for us,” Boswell said. “He was a quarterback in junior high, so he’s going back to his roots. He’s doing well, he’s doing well.
“He’s allowed us to spread it out. We’ve been a single wing, power run. It really was the kids. The kids were like, ‘Coach, we want to throw the ball.’ So I said, ‘Let’s do it. If you guys commit to it and put in the work, then we’ll certainly do it.’ It’s worked well so far. He’s throwing the ball well. He’s run the ball a little bit. He can do both. He’s taking care of the ball. We’re excited.”
Dixon played on the junior varsity team as a freshman, learning from the upperclassmen and preparing for his chance. Then he broke out during his sophomore season, when he had 68 tackles, including six for loss, and four interceptions in what he described as a “wonderful year.”
“He was our leader on defense,” Boswell said.
Dixon has taken on that role on the other side of the ball this season.
“He brings a lot of leadership,” West Side senior left tackle Antonio Davis said. “I love being on his blind side, protecting him. I like that. We’re usually a heavy run offense, but now we’re switching up to passing, and he gets to show those skills, and I get to show my pass pro more often.”
Dixon has concentrated on offense this season. He hasn’t played defense yet.
“I don’t think I’m ready for that yet, just with my leg,” he said.
After missing almost all of last season, Dixon hopes to impress enough to unlock options to play in college. He has spent half of his school day at the Gary Area Career Center as both a junior and a senior, focusing on auto mechanics, and he intends to study computer science.
“He’s a great kid, great family,” Boswell said. “I’m really proud of him and what he’s doing.”
