With leadership from the eighth graders, and combining forces with players from North Lyon County, they ended the season on a good note.
Having seven NLC players on the team, there was major improvement.
“The team made a lot of strides over the course of the season. With us combining with NLC this season, there was some uncertainty as to how the season would go. However, the boys from both teams played well together and made it a fun season,” assistant coach Cade Witte said.
The NLC players helped the Chase County players by giving them a break and bringing their experience along to help make the team better.
“They played a big part on our team. It helped out with everyone getting a break. It was a good experience having kids come from another school to play some football. It was a lot of fun,” eighth grader Clark Miller said.
Coach Jerod Barrett was very pleased with how the season ended.
“The team did a tremendous job this season. We were able to co-op with NLC and I knew following summer camp we had an opportunity to build a solid team,” Barrett said.
They were improving every week, they had great attitudes when playing.
“Our eighth grade group had a good summer in the weight room and showed improved speed and strength from last season,” Barrett said.
“Most of the eighth graders played different positions and supportive roles last year. However, this year we needed them to be bigger leaders on the team. It took on those roles in stride and helped the seventh graders along the way. I'm sure with hard work this off-season they will show even more improvement next year in high school,” Witte said.
Seventh grader Carter Mann has been playing football since fourth grade.
“I think the team played pretty well this season. I could have played better. There's always room for improvement,” Mann said.
Getting better takes a lot of practice and a lot of effort.
With only four Chase County eighth graders on the squad, Clark says his greatest accomplishment was being a leader and stepping up.
“I give it 100 percent in practice and games because the only way you can get better is giving it all you got when it is most hard,” Miller said.
Seventh grader Austin Andersen has also been playing football for several years now.
“This year I think I played pretty well. There was definitely a lot of improvement made this year from the previous years,” Andersen said.
Eighth grader Brant Potter enjoyed playing football this season. He practiced harder than he had before.
“I was pretty happy how it ended,” Potter said.
Potter improved on his passes and defense. One of the things he enjoyed about football was getting tackles.
Eighth grader Noah Green was glad to be the leader on the offensive line. He felt like he had improved a lot but believes he has more to work on.
“We finished with a 4-3 record and I felt we could have had a 6-1 record,” Green said.
After losing the starters from last year, many of the eighth graders stepped up and took their roles.
“We had seventh and eighth graders step up, learning new roles and positions throughout the season. We lost two close games at the end of the season but saved our best game for last with a decisive win over Cair Paravel,” Witte said.
Seventh grader Evan Howell was enjoying playing with the older athletes and had more fun.
“It was really fun playing competitively, a lot more fun than I expected,” Howell said.
