For Elijah Dougherty, the transition from high school football to college football has been about much more than learning a new defense, adjusting to the speed of the game or finding his place on a college roster. Now in his fourth season as a Dordt defensive end, the senior from Le Mars has had the opportunity to grow. As he looks back on his time with the Defenders and toward a career in law enforcement, Dougherty said one of the biggest changes has been learning that competition and love for others don't have to be opposites.

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His college football journey began during his junior and senior years at Le Mars, when he decided he wanted to continue playing after high school. He knew the NAIA level could be a good fit for him, so he began looking at schools in the area. Dordt quickly stood out, not only because of the direction of its football program, but because of the way the program connected football with faith. "I felt like Dordt had a great football program. They were winning more games and they were getting better, and I wanted to be a part of that," he said. "Plus it felt like Dordt, they had a Christian-centered approach to everything that they did."

That Christ-centered approach has remained an important part of Dougherty's experience. Dordt football operates around four pillars — honor God, build men, compete fiercely and Kingdom impact — and Dougherty said those principles provide a framework for what the program is trying to accomplish. The emphasis begins with honoring God, but that doesn't mean the competitive side of football is diminished.
If anything, Dougherty said the program has taught him that competition can be intense while still being conducted in a way that reflects the team's values. The Defenders want to win, but they also want to understand that football is part of something bigger than the final score.

"Our coaches also make a point and we as a team make a point of honoring God," Dougherty said. "Doesn't mean we can't compete, doesn't mean we can't do other things like impact people off the field. So we can compete fiercely. We can try to win games, but we can do that in a God-honoring way."

That philosophy has also changed the way Dougherty views his opponents. One of the most significant areas of growth he has experienced during his four years at Dordt is understanding that he doesn't have to dislike someone in order to compete against them. As a high school athlete, competition could sometimes be framed around rivalries. His experience at Dordt has challenged that mindset and given him a different perspective on what it means to compete against another person.

"Here we talk about how we can love each other, love our teammates, and we don't necessarily have to hate the opponent to win a football game," Dougherty said. "You can go out and you can compete and you can compete as fiercely as possible. But at the same time, it doesn't mean you have to hate other people."

That lesson fits naturally with what Dougherty is preparing to do after football. A criminal justice major, he became interested in the field during his senior year of high school after taking a criminal justice class. He enjoyed the subject enough to pursue it at Dordt, and he now sees law enforcement as a likely career path. What appeals to him is the variety of the work and, perhaps most importantly, the opportunity to interact with people. He doesn't want a career where he is sitting behind a desk doing the same thing every day. Law enforcement, by comparison, offers different situations, different people and different challenges.

"In law enforcement, you can see something different every day," Dougherty said. "You interact with lots of different people. There's a lot of parts of the job that are just totally different, and you're not sitting behind a desk for the most part. And I enjoy that. I don't want to be doing the same thing every day."

He also understands that working in law enforcement means dealing with people who may be experiencing some of the worst days of their lives. A classroom can provide knowledge about laws, procedures and the criminal justice system, but Dougherty said learning how to actually interact with people in difficult circumstances is something that takes experience. His professors have emphasized the importance of honoring God in those interactions and being a light to the people he encounters, while also recognizing that some of the most important skills are developed through experience rather than a textbook.

"You kind of have to learn that based off experience," he said. "You have to just get your hands dirty and do the work and understand how to talk to those people and how to interact with those people before you actually can become proficient at that job."

That same idea of preparing students for life beyond college is something Dougherty sees throughout the Dordt football program. The coaches and players don't simply focus on what will help them win football games. They also try to provide lessons and experiences that will benefit the players when their football careers are over. Community service has been part of that, whether through activities such as flag football or simply helping people on campus and in the surrounding community when a need arises. For Dougherty, those opportunities reinforce the idea that the football program is trying to develop men who understand that their impact extends beyond the field.

As he begins his final season, Dougherty is also starting to look more seriously at what comes next. He has begun exploring potential law enforcement opportunities but hasn't settled on a specific destination. That uncertainty doesn't bother him. There is still time to figure out where the next step will take him, and for now he has one more football season to experience with the teammates and coaches who have been part of his college journey.

The season opener at Indiana Wesleyan provided an early reminder of the level of competition the Defenders will face. The road trip itself went well, Dougherty said, with the team understanding from previous seasons that preparation and focus are important while also allowing teammates to enjoy spending time together. The game had a postseason feel, too, as both teams understood they were facing a quality opponent and wanted to establish themselves early in the season. Dordt didn't get the result it wanted, but the experience provided another opportunity for the team to learn and move forward.

For Dougherty, the fact that a season-opening road trip could already feel like a playoff game is another indication of how quickly the college football experience goes. Four years ago, he arrived at Dordt as a high school senior who wanted to continue playing football and was looking for a place that matched what he valued. Now, as a senior defensive end preparing for life after football, he can look back and see how much more he has gained from the experience than simply four years of football.

He has grown in his understanding of competition. He has developed a clearer sense of the career he wants to pursue. And through the people he has encountered and the experiences he has shared with his teammates, he has developed a better understanding of how faith, competition and service can work together.

"It's gone very quickly."