First published in the December issue of the print edition of the “Orange R.”

Football season may be over for the Roseburg Indians, but that does not take away from the program-changing year they were able to put together. Appearing in their conference title game against powerhouse Sheldon and making the second round of the conference finals, Roseburg had reached heights they haven’t seen in quite a few years. Despite the uncertainty of how good this team was in preseason, the Indians proved they were the real deal by going 9-1 in the regular season and going into the playoffs as the 11 seed. Now that Roseburg is relevant once again, it will be intriguing to see how they are able to keep the momentum going into the coming years.
It’s safe to say that the Roseburg Football program has been a work in progress, as past seasons may not have shown much success. However, coach David Heuberger has invested in the youth of the community in order to establish a system that produces winning seasons year in and year out. Brought on in 2016, Heuberger has made it clear he wants to have an impact on the younger generation of players who will one day be playing under the lights at Finlay Field. The 2021 season has been seen as a breakthrough, as most of the guys on the roster were in middle school when Heuberger was hired. Fast forward five years, the Indians had one of their most successful seasons in nearly a decade. It just might not be a coincidence that this roster was full of guys who grew and developed under Heuberger and his coaching staff. This is a promising sign for the future of Roseburg Football.
The 2022 class was one for the books, led by All-Conference Quarterback Colton Marsters. Roseburg brought back a healthy amount of starters from the shortened Covid season, so the experience was there. It was whether or not they would be able to take advantage of it when it came down to game time. The experience paid off for the Indians, as they were able to have a winning season for the first time since 2014, where they also made it to the second round of the playoffs. They dominated conference honors, having seven players on First Team Offense and five players on the defensive side of the ball. They also had the Southwest Conference Offensive Player of the Year in Colton Marsters, Defensive Player of the Year, Tiger Black, and Coach of the Year in Dave Heuberger. Roseburg ran through their conference, with a chance at their first Southwest Conference title since 2005. Unfortunately, they received their first loss of the season in a heartbreaker against rival Sheldon, who blocked the game-winning field goal as time expired. Despite coming up short of a conference title, Roseburg was still able to reach the second round of the playoffs in what has to be considered a successful season for the Indians.
Now that Roseburg has been able to produce a winning culture for a season, the question is whether or not they can churn out seasons like this year in and year out. Although there will be quite a few returning starters, there will still be holes to fill as the Indians are losing a lot of talent in their senior class. With underclassmen seeing the potential of this year’s team, there is a motivation factor to prove everyone wrong once again. Yes, the 2021 season was one for the books for Roseburg, as they were able to achieve success that hasn’t been seen on Finlay Field in quite some time.