Wins, losses for the freshmen Lions final games
As season ends, Freshmen Lions are eager to improve during offseason
Freshmen Coach Kyle Sturgell reviews plays with members of the Blue team. The single victory on the Blue team’s side came from the joint game.
Coming from a previous joint-game victory, the freshmen Lions shared a victory and a defeat against the Eastview Patriots when the Red team won 20-0 and the Blue team with a score of 44-6. Against the Vista Ridge Rangers, both teams lost with the Red team taking a final score of 19-13 and the Blue with 26-21. For their final game of the season against the Dripping Springs Tigers, both teams were defeated with the Red team ending with a score of 37-7 and the Blue team with 36-6.
“We played a good team,” freshmen Coach Kyle Sturgell said. “I think the confidence level was definitely up from the last game. They did some good things and from the combined game, they’re getting better. They’re seeing what they’re capable of doing.”
Red team running-back Adison LaRue ran the ball into the goal line, scoring the first touchdown of the night in the first quarter against the Patriots. Linebacker Kavan Spence executed two more touchdowns for the night and secured the Lions win at 20-0, the Lions defeating the Patriots.
“Before the game we were getting excited, we were getting hyped, we’re energetic and that continued throughout the whole game on the sideline, and on the field, everybody was energetic,” quarterback Diego Segura said. “That’s what it takes to win football games. We need to have a will to win.”
The Blue team came out with a defeat when the Patriots’ cut through the Lions and left a trail of touchdowns made by the Patriots with one touchdown on the Lions side made by quarterback Rashad Carter in the third quarter.
“It was right after halftime when coach came up to us and said ‘we gotta go out there and fight’ and encouraging us to do better and we went out there and scored,” Carter said.
The following week, the freshmen Lions were defeated by the Vista Ridge Rangers with close scores.
“So throughout the weeks practice, we talk about how we have to stick together,” Sturgell said. “When things don’t go your way you have to have a mental toughness about you and us as coaches have our certain ways of motivating them by holding them accountable in a positive structured way.”
LaRue drove the ball into a touchdown and was soon followed by wide-receiver AJ Nelson in the fourth quarter who completed a passing touchdown and ended the game with a score of 19-13, the Rangers defeating the Lions.
“We couldn’t get a lot going during the entire first half,” Segura said. “You want things to start off quick, you want to come out and score. We were starting to get discouraged from a big play near the end of half time that ended up getting called back, but that really got our energy going. That’s when we all realized that we have athletes, we can make plays, we can go down the field and score on these guys.”
During the Blue team’s first quarter, free-safety and receiver Ethan Rosenberg ran with a passed off ball from Carter to make the score at 14-6. Into halftime, Carter ran the ball up the middle to even out the score to 14-14 and was soon followed by running back Tay Brown scoring the Lions final touchdown of the night from the one yard line. The game ended with a score of 26-21, the Rangers taking the win.
“When the ball leaves the air it’s probably one of the best feelings when you know you have a chance to pick it up, especially when you’re one on one” Rosenberg said. “It’s just fun to go play the ball.”
The freshmen Lions played against the Dripping Springs Tigers at Dripping Springs for their final game on November 5th, both teams taking defeat.
“We didn’t play particularly well,” Segura said. “We lacked the stats and in order to win, you have to have both the stats you can read on paper and the stats you’ll never hear about.”
The Red team’s game started the night off as Dripping Springs took the first touchdown of the night. The Lions responded by making their only touchdown in the second quarter from a pass from quarterback Diego Segura to defensive back Brendon Spires. The game was finaled with a score of 37-7.
“We didn’t have the biggest start as we’ve had against East View and Vista,” LaRue said. “We just weren’t able to get hype the whole game.”
Similar to the Red team’s game, the Blue team scored their first and only touchdown of the night during the second quarter made by quarterback Rashad Carter and brought the score to 21-7 with seven yards on the play. The game and the season ended with a score of 46-6.
“We were all kind of crying,” Carter said. “We didn’t come out with a win so we were all sad and the bus ride home, wasn’t fun. Middle school and high school are two different types of football. We’ll know what to expect for next year so we’ve got to work hard at offseason.”
As the season ends, the freshmen Lions will continue to work during the offseason in hopes to advance in the upcoming years.
“We’re all very excited to work extremely hard in offseason,” Segura Said. “I got to play football with guys that also share a love for football and that’s not something a lot of people get to do. Everyone has learned about things not going right and having to overcome challenges in order to succeed and it’s one of the most valuable lessons for everyone.”
Hey, I'm Aimee and seeing as this is my first and only year on The Roar newspaper staff, I am extremely humbled and excited to interact and write about...
