By Greg Billing for the Dayton Daily News

DAYTON | Outscoring its first four opponents by almost two dozen goals and opening No. 10 in the Division III state poll, Dayton Christian has been a formidable foe. The Warriors have been even tougher on scouts.

No player stands out as the one to stop for the Warriors. Instead, the versatile Warriors have left more than a few scouts scribbling notes and scratching their heads figuring out a game plan.

"Individually, we can put out 12 or 13 players and not really lose much," DC coach Tom Robey said. "We don't have a superstar player. We just have a lot of talented players who all on the field together make a pretty good product."

The group, led by 10 seniors, has others sold on their ability as well. The Warriors started the week ranked No. 10 in the state poll. As far as Robey and his assistants can remember that's the Warriors' first state ranking since at least the early 1990s. After taking so long to get there they'd like to stick around awhile. The same goes for the tournament, where DC reached the regional semifinals last season.

"Our goal this year is to make at least the regional finals and try to push it farther," senior co-captain Craig Quarles said. "It's every high school player's dream to go to state."

This past week will be a good measuring stick for the Warriors. Following Dayton Christian's 3-0 loss to Alter, ranked No. 6 in the D-II state poll, DC also plays D-III heavyweight Brookville and Miami Valley.

"Our goal is to play together," Quarles said. "If we play as individuals we won't go anywhere. We might get to districts and we might win, but we won't go anywhere else. We have to play together. That's just the style we have to play to win."

The soccer team has added incentive to win a few select games after joining the Metro Buckeye Conference, which also includes Yellow Springs, Troy Christian, Xenia Christian and Miami Valley among others.

"Just watching everything build and being coached by Robey four years, it's been really sweet," Quarles said of the Warriors' ascent up the soccer ranks. "I think we've progressed a lot from what I've seen in high school."

Guy Mbanyansig, Robbie Hadick and James Holliday have helped key the offense, while keeper Kevin Keske has been solid in goal. With that state ranking, the Warriors know the pressure is on to keep it.

"I told the kids in practice being ranked No. 10 is great," Robey said. "Obviously, we'd like to be ranked higher and higher every week. We've been on the other side trying to knock off a ranked team. Now we get to see the other side of the coin."

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