Bright Friday night lights beam down on the dark-haired quarterback as he winds up his arm, releases a spiral throw, and connects with his receiver, who’s waiting in the end zone. Touchdown! The fans erupt in the stands, stomping their feet and shouting their chants.
These kinds of exciting moments signal that football season is officially upon us. This year, the WS varsity football team, comprised of both new and returning players, has started off the season with an impressive 4-1 record.
“It feels good to start the season on a good note, and it’s already a better record than we had last year,” said senior Derrick Jenkins. “It’s great for our motivation to keep winning.”
Varsity football head coach Jason Eldredge has started to throw in some fun rewards and incentives to motivate the team to succeed. This is an evolving strategy that he has adopted after 14 seasons of coaching players, and which he also partially credits for the team’s wins thus far.
“At the beginning of the season I told the kids that if they went 3-0, I would allow them to wear [their] helmet visor…so this was an incentive they used to carry us over the last three weeks,” said Eldredge. “I used to use fear and scare tactics to motivate and discipline, [but] adolescent athletes are different in today’s climate.”
Sophomore Tony Muskett helms the team as the quarterback this season. He has earned the same position that his brother, Peter, left last year when he graduated; however, he doesn’t feel the pressure of the comparison.
“My brother gave me tons of advice,” said Muskett. “He cares about me and wants me to succeed and not make some of the same mistakes he did.”
Muskett also credits the help of his teammates and coaches for his successful transition from JV to varsity, where the game moves a lot faster and requires him to be more confident when making play calls.
“They put in all the hard work and I just want to try my best to put them in positions to succeed,” said Muskett. “At the end of the day, as long as we tried our best we’ll be happy with each other.”
In football, team chemistry is instrumental to success, as teammates must be able to connect with each other consistently and work in tandem in order to make big plays. This season, the bond between the players is especially strong.
“My favorite part about playing with this team is being able to be around my brothers and go through the season together,” said Jenkins. “[It helps] the quarterback know how to time routes with the receivers.”
Despite the team’s hot start, the players are determined to avoid complacency. They want to continue to improve and keep the momentum going for the rest of the season.
“As a team, we need to improve on our technique and keep penalties to a minimum, especially when we go against the state champs,” said Jenkins.
Although their schedule increases in difficulty later in the season, with upcoming opponents such as South County and Lake Braddock, the team has put itself in a strong position to compete for a playoff spot.
“My expectations for the rest of the season are very high,” said Muskett. “I know that this team is special and that we can do great things and shock a lot of people. I’m excited to play among these guys.”