Football exceeds in passing league, increases team chemistry

It’s 6 a.m. during summer. Most kids are sound asleep, but for football players at MC, it’s the beginning of three-a-day workouts.

In previous seasons, football players have only been involved in two-a-day workouts, so this was a new experience for all of them.

“The days were much longer, but our team really bonded during this time,” senior Wesley Wallace said.

“Three-a-days were not as bad as I thought; the second practice just involved helmets and we bonded as a team during that time,” senior Ken James said.

Even by having practices three times a day, the players still found a way to have a little bit of fun.

“Having three practices a day was rough, but we did have some free time which included swimming and having some team dinners,” Wallace said.

Before these three-a-day workouts, the team competed in a passing league tournament. The MC football team is based on a running offense [the option], so this tournament would be a good test for the Sundevils.

Many teams entered this tournament, including the reigning state champions, the Cathedral Dons.

“After passing league started, we were not expected to do very well because we consider ourselves a running team, but we proved that we can throw the ball by winning seven games in a row; including arguably the best team in the county, Cathedral,” Wallace said.

By finishing the passing league tournament in second place, the team boosted its confidence and by doing so, the team’s chemistry really came together.

“Everybody on our team is really coming together and that is going to make our team much stronger,” Wallace said.

According to James, having team chemistry is a big deal, and especially in football. When everybody on a team understands one another, the team is willing to work that much harder because of the person next to him. One way how a team can get great chemistry is from the coaching staff.

“We have a very good coaching staff and that is a big part of our family,” James said.

Also, the team has many true leaders and that helps out the whole team. Many of these leaders are returning varsity players and that have a lot of skill to back up their leadership.

“We have a lot of talent on our team and a lot of experience coming back,” James said.

The returning varsity players are willing to continue the varsity traditions.

“We sing the fight song after every game,” senior Mike Nelson said.

If the team has a great practice, it’s a team tradition to not wash their clothes, no matter how grimy they get. A couple weeks ago, the team had a full week where they did not wash a single piece of clothing.

The team is looking forward to a great year, and they have many goals on their minds, one is to make CIFs.

“Our main goal as a team is to make it far in CIFs.”

The team had a close game against Heritage last week, but they lost 24-20. The team has upcoming games the next 3 Fridays; two away games at Madison and Fallbrook and a home game against RB

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