Under the shining, Friday night lights, the MV Rams have been working hard. 

          Battling challenges, celebrating victories, and keeping their eyes set on finishing strong; we will explore the ups and downs of football at MV High school. 

         The season has started off rough, with the team’s record being 1-2 as of 9/19, the MV Rams aren’t quite where they would like to be. 

         All the players interviewed, as well as their lead coach, agreed that although the road started off a little bumpy they plan to keep working hard and improve their record as the season progresses. 

          Senior on the team and one of the team captains, Adrian Rhymer ‘26 explained, “We only have 38 men on the team, and it definitely shows in games. When anyone gets hurt, it takes a big hit on the team.” 

           Of course all teams face struggles; it’s important to work hard, communicate with each other, and collaborate as a group.

          When asked about his views on the team’s conflicts, Freshman Elijah Robinson ‘29 responded, “When the team argues too much we aren’t on the same page and don’t play as well.” 

          Coach Dan Mings and the players interviewed agreed, the team gets along well and they work together, Mings stated, “Football can’t be done by one person. No one person can take over a game, tackle everybody, it’s a complete team concept.” 

          Of course with bad comes good too, and we won’t let that go unnoticed. Junior, Jaxon Simmons ‘27 stated, “The administration has supported us well and kept us motivated during the season.” 

          While the players do most of the work, they can’t do it alone, and it isn’t just coaches either. 

          Rhymer bragged to all of the administration here at MV, claiming that they all do a great job bringing the team together and keeping all the players on track. 

            Mings expanded on this, explaining that balancing all the different parts of high school can be difficult and football isn’t the only important thing going on in the students’ lives, when they’re struggling, the players have to go to tutors instead of practice, he stated, “…school [work] is the most important thing.” 

          As far as fun goes, the team seems to have a lot of it, because without at least a little bit of celebration the team would be pretty dull. 

          Robinson explained that when the student section is there and cheering it lifts the team up and encourages them, Simmons expanded on this by stating, “It’s definitely a good feeling seeing how much support we get from the student section even at the away games.” 

            The team demonstrates and brags on their supportive community, celebrating their highs and lifting them back up during the lows. 

          Cassmen (CJ) Hughes ‘27 was inquired about his favorite moment of the season so far, he answered, “Week two against Carbondale when I scored the game winning touchdown.” 

          Mings gave some of his top moments of the season as well, stating, “Our first play of the year we scored…next game, we scored. Truman [Carnine ‘26] kicking a 48 yard field goal is really impressive, at the high school level, there’s professionals that can’t do what he’s doing.” 

          Overall the team seems proud of their accomplishments and recognizes their flaws, knowing what they need to improve on. 

          Let’s finish the season strong Rams!