With football season just starting, students may be wondering how the varsity team is doing and how they feel about the new season. Things aren’t going so well, but it’s only the start of the season. Now, this team is ready to destroy the competition and make a comeback.

Since some varsity games now take place on Thursdays, there has been a major shift in energy; the team is tired and everyone feels it. Johnnie Valdez, varsity quarterback and captain, states that “Thursday is our rest day, it’s our rest, recover get anything we have ready for Friday, and we didn’t get [any] that day.”

One of the captains, Branden Garcia, became frustrated with a few of his teammates’ attitudes on the bus after a game they had just lost. “I got on them about it, I was telling them to pretty much stop talking and that we had just lost. I don’t know why everybody is so happy.” While it’s unlikely this will cause major problems, it showcases the stress that these losses are putting on some of the team’s most devoted players, even a captain himself.

To keep their heads in the game, the captains Johnnie Valdez, Branden Garcia, Joseph Galindo, Gary Garcia, and Stephen Cabrera tell themselves to keep going and push through, especially during tough games. The captains also make sure to do everything they can to get the team pumped up, but at the latest game it just wasn’t working. Luckily, a rocky start to the season isn’t enough to kill this team’s spirit, as Johnnie says that the team will continue to push on and keep going.

When asked what word would they use to describe their team right now they replied tired, struggling, defeated, and drained. Most of them felt mentally done during their last game. Brenden understood Johnnie’s frustration during the game and said in Johnnie’s defense, “Getting tackled every play as the quarterback is not easy.” Joseph adds that the team’s frustration and drained energy can be fixed with strengthening their brotherhood.

Although the team is in a rough spot now, they are sure they will come back from this stronger than before. The words they used to describe what the team will be like in the near future were full of confidence. “Even though the words we use at this moment are tired, beat and all that, we still have a lot of fight and we will get past all the bumps and bruises, and things we have to fix, we’ll get better every week.” They hope to be rolling and persevere through everything ahead of them. Make sure to go support our varsity football team and watch their growth as a team on the field.