Sophomores wrap up season with big victory

By: Tehya Tournier

Under the bright lights on Oct. 22, the sophomore boys ended their season with a victory against the East High Trojans. The score was 63-6, so the team ended the season with five wins and four losses. Starting running back Will Gage and starting quarterback Luke Gillett agreed that the team dominated in its last game.

“It was a blowout, but it was as expected,”  Gillett said.

According to Gage, the team is well-rounded and gets along great.

“There is a lot of versatility. There are a lot of people that can do a lot of different things. I had lots of fun with my coaches. The practices were fun, and we just had a good team.”

Gage also said the coaches were liked by everyone, and it was a fun year to be playing football. “I think our Linn-Mar game was important. That was when we really came together as a team, and our last practice was real fun. We dressed up in halloween costumes.  It was just a good season.”

Gillett said that the season was filled with ups and downs but friendships were built throughout the season as they progressed.

Gage and Gillett also shared that as the season approached the end, the team grew closer. The players would hang out after and outside of practice, and it definitely helped when they were together on the field.

“We were very aggressive, smart and talented. We play together too,” Gillett said. “We would come back strong in practice and were focused on the next game.”

Both players agreed that in their opinion, Urbandale was the toughest team they had faced because of their complicated defense, but that didn’t stop the Tigers from getting after it in practice to make sure the mistakes didn’t happen again.

“Our record did not reflect how good we are,” Gillett said.

Coach Will Carter said the group was resilient and was always willing to step up to a challenge.

“We had three voted captains: Luke Gillett, Zach Seehase and Colin Klatt. After Colin moved up to varsity, we had many players that stepped up as both captains and leaders,” Carter said. “Rafe Reyes, Carter Newton and Austin Smiley are just a few that stepped up. We had such a great group that many players stepped up when situations would arise.”

Carter said that the team was always eager to learn and improve. He said he enjoyed working with this group of athletes. “They always tried to improve, and, as a coach, having a team respond to coaching so quickly and efficiently makes our jobs really easy.”

He said the team’s biggest strength by the end of the year was their teamwork, especially after having Peet and Holmes combine. By the end of the year they were working as a unit.