Dymally football on the rise – with big goals – despite challenges of the inner city

"The levels to what some of these kids are dealing with would make you cry," Dymally coach David Wiltz said.

LOS ANGELES – Going to a Dymally High football game provides a backdrop unlike most prep events. The campus sits in South Los Angeles splitting the difference between Inglewood and Huntington Park right off the 110 freeway.

The field is surrounded by a thick, steel fence with sharp points at the top, two LAPD squad cars with a crop of officers are keeping tabs while engines of 747 and 777 jumbo jets fly over the school every 10 minutes heading into LAX.

"It's a little different," Dymally coach David Wiltz said with a smirk.

The Dymally High football stadium is surrounded with a steel fence with sharp, pointed tops / Tarek Fattal

Usually, Dymally plays its home games under the lights at 7 p.m. But not on Friday night when it hosted San Pedro. A shooting in the area prompted the game to be moved to 4 p.m.

"Due to the proximity of the recent occurrences in that neighborhood, games were moved earlier for safety and supervision," Los Angeles Unified School District's director of athletics Trent Cornelius said.

It's dated, but worth noting that in 2019 the LA Times reported 105 people were killed within a mile of Dymally the prior five years, "making it the highest number surrounding any public school in the county."

It's one significant example of the challenges Dymally, along with other LA City Section programs in the inner city, face each week. 

Wiltz was at Jefferson High for 13 years, now he's the football coach and athletic director at Dymally.

"The levels to what some of these kids are dealing with would make you cry," Wiltz said. "Finding the next meal, things like that, living in gang-infested areas. All things they have to deal with, in addition to just getting them in the classroom and out here on the field."

Wiltz went on: "It's a lot. I'm a coach, teacher, tutor, psychologist and a father here. But it's where I belong. I have a heart for these kids. ... I'd be a fish out of water at a private school, I think."

Dymally High football coach David Wiltz was at Jefferson High for 13 seasons before taking over the Challengers in 2020 / Tarek Fattal

It might be a lot, but maybe it's not too much. 

Dymally, with just 30 dressed varsity players, went toe-to-toe with San Pedro, but fell for the first time this season, 34-28. The Challengers proved they can hang with an Open Division-quality team.

"That was the most fun we've had all year," senior Tramonte Lowe said. "We believe we showed we belong."

Dymally was an 8-man program before Wiltz was hired in 2020 and went to 11-man in the abbreviated spring season of 2021. The Challengers went 9-1 in the fall of 2021 and 9-3 last season before starting this season 4-0, beating Compton (26-10), Buena (47-41), Taft (52-20) and South Gate (62-0).

San Pedro had Dymally outnumbered and outsized, but the Challengers made up for it with their dynamic skill players.

Wideout Tramonte Lowe will make you miss in a phone booth. Running back Milton Catching has breakaway speed. Bryant Collins, who plays multiple positions, can physically dominate at 6-foot-1, 215 pounds. Quarterback Jermaine Whiten, who threw for two touchdowns and ran for one against San Pedro, flicks a tight spiral like Michael Vick — Whiten is a lefty, too. 

Travon Jackson and Mitaevionne Reynolds are also key contributors.

Dymally football's (L-R) Milton Catching, Tramonte Lowe, Bryant Collins, Jermaine Whiten / Photo by Tarek Fattal

All are seniors and play the entire game - offense and defense - except Whiten, the quarterback.

"We run a lot of gassers," Catching said. "Sideline to sideline. If we don't make time, we do it again. That's how we condition ourselves to play the whole game."

Dymally won the Metro League the last two seasons, which earned the Challengers back-to-back City Section Division I playoff berths. Now, Dymally is in the Coliseum League with the likes of Crenshaw, Dorsey, Fremont, King/Drew and George Washington.

"I added Dymally to the Coliseum League for competitive equity, they were dominating the Metro League," Coliseum League commissioner David Seidelman said.

Wiltz and his players are not shy about sharing their goals this season.

"We want to win the Coliseum League and we want to play in the Open Division," Collins said.

It's definitely doable. The Challengers are currently ranked No. 7 in the Calprep.com rankings, which is a system used to help determine playoff placement and seeding. The Open Division field is comprised of eight teams. If Dymally wins the Coliseum League, it has a chance to accomplish its goal.

Its biggest test will be against Crenshaw (4-1) at home on October 6.