Senior Year: Game On
By: Carson Messick
Senior season and football, two of the most important and stressful things in many of the students lives here at Jenks High School. Now mix them together, seems crazy right?
The football players this year are putting up a strong fight to get the state championship in our possession again, so the pressure is on. Specifically on the senior players, as they want to leave a huge impact before they pass on the team to the underclassmen.
“I think about how every game is my last game,” Senior Matthew Wofford, also known as Waffles explains. “But I say the pressure helps, makes us guys focus up and take ownership as the team.”
Waffles believes that all of the seniors feel the pressure of the last season and they all seem to share the same fears about it being the last season.
“I am terrified of getting hurt,” Waffles says. “I actually have nightmares about getting injured and not being able to play, because that would break my heart, I don’t know how I would respond.”
“Injure is definitely a huge fear,” Senior Bo Estes continues on for Waffles, and talks more of the feeling of not being able to go out on the field anymore if something were to happen to himself.
Senior Will Cox doesn’t truly fear injury while playing, however he does overthink about what the other people on the team are doing instead of focusing on himself.
“I worry about doing other people’s stuff, of them not doing their stuff, but other than that, I’m carefree,” Cox says.
Though the pressure of being a senior football player is scary, the senior share one common thing they all believe is pretty nice, being looked up to by the underclassman.
“You look up to the seniors so much as an underclassman… you leave a huge impression on them,” Waffles says. “ I can remember the people I looked up to, and still think of the impact they had on me up to this day.”
Both Cox and Estes agreed and talked about that feeling as well.
“It’s a cool thing to be a captain,” Cox says. “All the seniors on the team are taking the lead on for the younger kids.”
“It’s pretty cool [having younger people look up to you],” Estes says. “I remember looking up to seniors my sophomore year. It’s nice to be in that position now.”
Though the pressures of being a senior seems rough, the football players wouldn’t trade it for the world. They are proud of how far they have come as an individual and a team, and can’t wait to leave a similar impact as the past seniors have. Don’t forget to support the seniors and other football players by going to the games and cheering them on. Go Trojans!