Sports

The Maroons Archery team is starting up next week and has a lot to live up to, hoping to win another State title for the 3rd time in a row this year. The Archery coach, Coach Creek believes that they have a chance to go all the way and make it to State, and possibly Nationals.

Practices for new archers will start next Tuesday and all returning archers will start next week. With an impressive legacy, it's important that our archers start practicing early, as State will be held in April and Nationals will be in May.

Keep your eye out for the top shooters this year because according to Creek,“ It's really hard to decide but our top team consists of 24 of really solid archers so really whoever is on the top 24 is gonna be really good archers.” She also commented that “Last year was a disappointing year after they could not compete because of COVID that shut down lots of activities including Archery.”

Creek continued by saying, “ After not having much of a season last year because of COVID we want to have a complete season and to be able to travel. And to bring back another State title for the school.” Creek also said that some goals for this year are to make sure that everyone improves and everyone tries their hardest no matter what.

We asked Rowan Abzug, a senior archer, what his goals for the season were. He said, “My goal is mainly to leave behind a good team when I leave, so helping new archers become better and keep good energy rather than actually getting the best score for myself”. Abzug later replied that he was looking forward to this upcoming season and said “I'm excited to see other teams and compete in person after a year of no in-person tournaments.”

The Maroons are looking forward to this season after not being able to participate in last year's season due to COVID and are hoping to make it a season they won't forget.

It is that time of year again and the Illinois Men’s Basketball team ranked 10th in the nation. The Illini had their first game on November 9th against Jackson State and came out on top 71-47, and on November 12th, Illinois topped Arkansas State in a lopsided 92-53, but had a tough loss on the road to Marquette by a score of 67-66. We know a good portion of the school are fans of the team so we interviewed some of our students at Central High School about what they are looking forward to and memories they have of the Illinois team.

When asked about their favorite part about the Illinois Men’s basketball team, Sophomore Elliot Gulley, without hesitation, said that he really loved “the fans, the Orange Krush, and especially the environment, it is really a tough environment to play in as an away team.” Sophomore Leo Lewis mentioned that he also “really loved the environment, but also just the game in general. I think Brad Underwood (Illinois Coach), has really been building our team into a great one throughout his tenure at the helm in Champaign.” Freshman George Rouse stated that he really enjoyed “the energy the fans bring during games, and being there with a bunch of people that love the same thing.” Junior Joel Powers-Ege stated that “it’s fun to watch, and college basketball is better than the NBA”.

Our next question was whether they had a favorite player (current or all-time). Gulley told us that his favorite player was Ayo Dosunmu, who now plays for the Chicago Bulls. He stated that “Ayo turned the program around, and it’s good to see him thriving with the Bulls right now.” Lewis told me that his favorite players would either be “Deron Williams or Trent Frazier; I really like the way they play.” Rouse said, “Dee Brown, I know I wasn’t alive to watch him play but I like watching his highlights.” Powers-Ege replied with “Probably Ayo Dosunmu cause he’s cold and he’s good”.

Our third question was what they were looking forward to most this year and Gulley, without a pause, told us that he was looking forward to “seeing the freshman play, but also seeing the improvement of (Andre) Curbelo and Kofi (Cockburn).” Lewis stated that he was excited to just watch “a new chance, after last season with the devastating loss in the NCAA tournament, I’m excited to see a fresh start.” Rouse replied with “Seeing if we can make it past the second round of the tournament, hopefully keeping our playoff run like last year”. Powers-Ege told us that he was looking forward to “seeing us go really far and see what talent we have.”

Our final question was what their favorite memory of Illinois basketball is, and Gulley easily said that it was “when Kofi blocked Luka Garza to win our final regular-season game in the 2019-2020 season, right before the rest of the season was canceled.” Lewis said he will always remember when in 2019 “we upset Michigan State, who was ranked 9th in the country at the time, and we rushed the court after the game.” George said, “Probably when we beat Michigan State in 2019 when Michigan State was ranked number 9 in the country.” Powers-Ege said he will never forget “When Tyler Griffey hit a game-winning shot against number 1 ranked Indiana, and everyone stormed the court”.

As you can see, Central High School has a lot of ties to Illinois Men’s basketball, and we are happy to have it back in season again!

As this year's girls basketball season approaches, I asked a few of the players what they were looking forward to this season.

Junior Braelyn Alexander said, “I am definitely looking forward to this season because I feel like this is my year to get scholarships being that next year is my last year here.”

Nevaeh Essien, also a junior, expressed that she hopes to have a better season than last year and now that she's a junior, colleges will be watching her.

Senior Jaliya Brooks added, “I look forward to winning games, making memories with the team and watching everyone get better at playing the game.”

It's great to see that the girls care a lot about their future and hope to get far with playing basketball. Taking home wins and seeing each other develop together as a team are some of the best parts about being a part of a basketball team.

Last season was totally different due to the fact that there were a lot of different changes going on because of covid. They told me some things that they'd change this season that didn't go well last season, especially since last season was shorter.

“As a team, I would change the way we play our defense and also the communication within each other and for myself, just a want for it more and to push myself more, other than that we have everything we need,” noted Neveah Essien.

Jaliya Brooks left it short and sweet, she said, “I would change everything with covid and wearing the masks.”

COVID definitely took a toll on the players, the coaches and the season and caused them to have to be cautious and take baby steps into the season. Last season, the players were given two tickets to give to whoever they wanted and they were allowed in the gym to watch the games. Not having a huge crowd can be terrible, especially knowing how hearing a crowd cheer you on is one of the best things to hear while playing on the court. So I asked the girls if they think COVID made a huge impact on the basketball season last year.

Sophomore Ryan Barrett said “I think that COVID had a really big impact on how last season went. We couldn't meet up for open gym or conditioning as much also, our season was cut short due to COVID.”

Nevaeh Essien said, “a lot of the girls that came to tryout haven't played basketball in a couple of seasons due to COVID, so it was a bit rough not having a ball in their hand and it affected everything.”

Braelyn Alexander replied with “COVID has changed basketball but not for the better because now you have to wear masks and sometimes there's a time when you're playing and you struggle to breathe while playing.”

Being a part of a basketball team, you make plenty of memories with your peers. The girls told me about some of their favorite things about the season.

Ryan Barrett said, “My favorite part about playing basketball at Central is definitely making new friends and being treated like family !”

Loreal Allen, a sophomore, mentioned how she loves the games, she loves how the school comes out to cheer them on and all the emotion that goes on during the game. She also talks about how the girls on the team build a sisterlike bond with each other and some of them keep in contact even after the season is over.

This season seems like something to look forward to, can't wait to see the girls take home Ws!

The Central High School Boys Varsity Basketball season kicks off on November 23rd, with the Decatur Invitational. When I interviewed Coach Nix, he explained that the upcoming Boys Basketball season is gonna be one challenging season with some great competition. Coach said, “the boys will have to play in masks due to these Covid restrictions; we gotta keep them well enough to play.” He wants the boys, coaches, and crowds safe and healthy. The team will practice 6 days a week, Monday through Saturday.

Coach Nix explained that the team’s biggest competition is Peoria. He is very excited and confident about this upcoming season and explained the relationship between coaches and players is very important. Coach Nix has been a Coach at Central for the past 18 years. He explained, “I always loved basketball and I love coaching basketball”. He is loved and respected by the Central community and is someone his players describe as a person to look up to.

When I interviewed AJ Williams, a member of the boy’s varsity team, he stated that “I'm looking forward to winning this year and trying my best”. The boys and Coach Nix are both incredibly ready and prepared for the season.

Sean Anderson, a Freshman who tried out for the team, said that “at practice, we ran for almost half of the time, we did drills, and ran 5 on 5”. He says he was looking forward to winning as well. Sean commented that one of the hardest parts of practice was running and training while wearing masks.

Tyson Hines, another freshman, said he was looking forward to getting their jerseys. He said that he tried out and it was fun and it was something he was really looking forward to. I asked a couple more people who tried out the second day and they said they felt it was challenging to run in their masks because they had difficulty breathing. Some of the Varsity players said that they are looking forward to growing their relationship with their coaches and graduating at the end of the year.

The Varsity Boys Basketball team will face the Danville Vikings at their first home game on December 10th at 7:30 pm in the North Gym.

After the conclusion of the game, multiple players spoke on how they enjoyed coming together as a school to have fun. Sydney Gardner, a senior player, said “I’m really excited to be here; it’s good to see my friends out here”. Ainsley Holland, another senior player, said “‘it’s really fun, you know, with COVID we can’t do stuff like this anymore, and it’s really nice”. Frances Donahoe, a junior player, said “it was fun. It was a good experience”.

As the chill of fall settles in, the tennis players of Central High school say goodbye to this year’s season. For most players, the end means a mixed bag of emotions, and opportunities to continue playing tennis. “For me, the closing of the tennis season is sad,” says sophomore Mariclare O’Gorman. “But, at the same time, I am excited for the offseason, being able to have more free time, beginning group lessons, private lessons, and USTA.”

Similarly, for junior athlete Elizabeth Su, her focus is also on the future. “I still play tennis throughout the year, so it’s not necessarily the end of playing tennis for me, it’s more so just the end of playing and practicing with a team. It’s mostly the end for the seniors, I think of it as the last year to play tennis with them, since most of the underclassmen come back for more seasons.”

Facing the end of her last season, Senior athlete Sydney Gardner fondly wishes her time playing for the school goodbye. “It’s a bittersweet feeling. Joining tennis my sophomore year was one of the best decisions I've ever made,” she states. "I’m going to miss all the friends I made and their energy, but I’m glad we got to share some fun times together.”

However, the season did not pass without challenges. “Unfortunately, the courts we normally use were under construction so we were forced to use the four courts at Morrissey.” Coach Davis explains. “This meant we weren't able to have home matches.” Despite this, it did not stop the team from achieving victory over a match with Centennial. Coach Davis proudly stated, “the highlight [of the season] was probably beating Centennial 5-4 in our duel match.”

Above all, there is one thing all of the players valued over the season. O’ Gorman sums it up: “I value the people on the tennis team the most. Everyone is very nice and friendly, and I have made some of my closest friends through tennis.” With the influx of freshmen participants and sophomore students losing their first year of High School to COVID-19, building a tight knit community within the Central tennis team became an integral part of the season. “We had four or five beginners on the team and the other girls provided a lot of encouragement and help for these girls.” Coach Davis recalls. Thanks to the support of seasoned players, the new additions received a warm welcome into the team, setting them up for successful future seasons.

As this year’s cross country season comes to a close, I was able to catch up with a few members of the Cross country team to ask them a few questions. I was able to talk to Fynn Bright, Ellie Kim, Coach Kessler, and Gwen Ellis.

When asked what the highlight of the year has been, Sophomore Fynn Bright mentioned that he just “really enjoyed having fun with the rest of the team. The meets were also fun.”

Ellie said her favorite part of this season “would just be the community that the team brings. All the girls are super supportive, and it really helps me balance school with everything else going on, and transitioning back into high school.”

Coach Kessler said a highlight of the season was winning the Decatur McArthur Invite, saying “it was the first victory of an invite in a few years.”

Gwen Ellis said that she really enjoyed “getting to really know the freshmen on the team.”

My second question to Gwen, Fynn, Ellie, and Coach Kessler was if they had a goal for the rest of the season.

Fynn said a personal goal of his “would be to run under 16 minutes,” but as a team, they want to “We as a team are going to try to compete in the conference, and try to go to state.”

Gwen told me that she just hopes to “finish the season off strong, and injury-free.”

Ellie Kim told me that, “A personal goal is to run under 22 minutes, but also grow in leadership.”

Coach Kessler let me know that a goal of the team is to “qualify for sectionals. We have regionals this upcoming Saturday.” (October 23rd)

I then asked about the offseason, and looking forward, if they had goals for next season.

Fynn said he wanted to “ improve on pacing myself through the 3 miles,” and he also said as a team they should “work together better next year, maybe mature a little bit more, and get faster overall as a team.”

Gwen told me she was “hoping to improve my focus on running as well as get better times next year.”

Ellie said she wanted to “grow in leadership and think even more about others.”

My question to Coach Kessler was what his message would be to his runners over the offseason, and his response was he wanted “our runners to work on base-mileage. They should try to log some miles and have some longer, slower work, So when we get to the season and have fast runs, they are ready.”

My last questions had very similar answers. I wanted to know what Fynn, Gwen, Ellie, and Coach Kessler were going to miss most about this season. They all mentioned that they would really miss the seniors.

Ellie told me that “Maaike (Niekerk) and Zoe (Surles) were amazing, and they really helped the team with the transition back to school.”

Fynn said he “might miss some of the meets that we won’t have in the future, but mostly the seniors.”

Gwen told me that she “will miss the amazing seniors that are going to be graduating this year.”

Coach Kessler told me that, “even though they have a young team and will have a lot of runners returning, Victor (Smith) and the other seniors will be missed.”

This season has had plenty of ups and downs, but our runners will certainly go out with a bang and finish strong. Good luck the rest of the way Maroons! We are proud of you!

The weekend of Oct. 23rd marked the end of the competitive season for the Marching Maroons. The band performed on Friday the 22nd at the Central vs. Centennial Senior Night football game. Members of the band cheered and tooted their horns as their peers were recognized for Senior Night. It was a bittersweet occasion for many, as this was the last time they’d ever perform for a Central football game. The band took the field at half-time, and showcased all their hard work by giving the best performance of the season so far. Students went home that night in anticipation of the day ahead.

On Saturday, the 23rd, the U of I hosted the annual Illinois Marching Band Championships in Memorial Stadium. Bands from across the state travelled to Champaign-Urbana to participate in the day-long competition. The first performance began at 8:00 am with the final competing band playing at 7:15 pm. Marching onto the field in silence, with hundreds of spectators watching as you take your place, is a nerve-racking experience. Especially since this was the first time the majority of band has done so. The last time the Marching Maroons were able to play at Memorial Stadium was in 2018, which would have been freshman year for our current seniors. Performing in the stadium is a unique experience, unlike any other facility the band has played in before. Hearing the sounds bounce all around you is disorienting yet amazing. A high level of concentration is needed in order to give your best performance. The Marching Maroons delivered, placing 5th in their class. After packing up their instruments, and changing out of their marching uniforms, students were able to listen and watch several other bands that evening. It was a great opportunity for the newer marching band members to see how various marching bands from across the state and from different sized schools, each using their resources and skills to present their marching shows. To end the night, viewers were treated to an impressive exhibition by the Marching Illini, proving to students that they don’t need fancy costumes or props to be the best they can be. All they need to be incredible is focus, commitment, and hard work. A great lesson, for a end of a great season.

Have you paid attention to the Maroons Soccer team at all this year? If not, you should definitely go to some games next year. Maroons Soccer had a really good year in both JV and Varsity. Though both teams were knocked out in the playoffs they both had great paths to getting there.

The Maroons JV team had an upsetting ending to the season losing their last three games in the PND tournament last weekend. So the Maroons JV team ends the season with a record of 10-5-1. The Maroons Varsity soccer team has had an amazing season! They are now 16-6-2 after beating Centennial on Wednesday, October 20th. The Maroons Varsity team sadly lost against Urbana 3-0 in the regional championship.

We got a chance to talk to one of the JV players on Thursday, October 14th about the end of the Maroons soccer season. That player was Jeffrey Yao, who is a 9th grader that plays on the JV team. He said ¨ We have a Peoria Notre Dame Tournament for JV¨, later after that the Maroons lost their next 3 games to conclude their season.

The next player that we interviewed was Maroons Varsity Star Kyle Johnson. Kyle has a great season leading the team in goals. When asked how he felt about the season, Kyle commented that “I thought the season went great. Not only personally, but I thought throughout the whole program there was so much improvement that makes me look forward to the future of Central Soccer”. When asked about how COVID has affected this year's season, he said “Covid hasn't had a huge effect on the season, compared to last year at least. The biggest effect that it had, besides having to wear masks on buses, was having to be careful inside and outside of school. If one person were to get infected then it would be likely that our season would get postponed, so I would always try to be a little careful when going to places like school volleyball or football games”. When asked about COVID-19, Kyle felt that last year’s games were affected much more than those this season. “Covid hasn’t had a huge effect on the season, compared to last year at least. The biggest effect that it had, besides having to wear masks on buses, was having to be careful inside and outside of school. If one person were to get infected then it would be likely that our season would get postponed, so I would always try to be a little careful when going to places like school volleyball or football games”.

Coach Clegg, coach of the Maroons Varsity team, also spoke on the team’s success. “I think the season has been successful, I think a lot of the guys have improved, we have had some really good results this year. And as a team we are coming together at the right time.” Coach Clegg spoke proudly of his players, stating that “one of the best parts about our team is our depth; we have a lot of talent. Kyle Johnson who just got voted all state, could be All American. Kyle is one of the top players, he has 45 goals which is the second most in school history. Cooper Carson, who is a junior, got voted all sectional, and so did Matthew Winterbottom, who is just a sophomore.”

In conclusion, we all hope the Maroons will continue to have great seasons like this one. Tryouts for the soccer team are held annually in August, just before the beginning of the season. Go Maroons!

The Central golf teams both had a good season, which is now coming to an end. Reese Phillips made it to sectionals as an individual from the girls golf team. Boys golf made it to sectionals as a team, taking 3rd at regionals. The group placed 2nd as a team in 5 of the 13 tournaments that they entered.

Boys golf Coach Mike Osterbaur, commented that “the season went really well, but the team fell short on some of their goals, such as winning one of the two tournaments they hosted, winning the Champaign County tournament and the Big 12 Conference Tournament.” He also said the highlight of the year was the regionals tournament because “the team played their best, and beat Mahomet-Seymour for the final team spot for sectionals”. Osterbaur continued, “Wade Schacht is the area Golfer-of-the-Year, and was an outright medalist in eight of their tournaments and shared a co-medalist.”

Coach Osterbaur followed up talking about some pros and cons of the season. He said, “some of the pros were that we had a core group of Juniors this season on varsity and they gained a valuable amount of experience.” Osterbaur was grateful that there was still a season this year, even with some COVID-19 concerns. He went on to explain the biggest challenge of the 2021 season was the district cancelling the previous season due to COVID concerns. In his opinion, that set his whole team back. He said that this was a huge disadvantage because “the group of juniors would have been in a position of playing with more confidence and experience.”

Junior Reese Phillips played the number one spot on the girls team, while dealing with injuries and other medical problems that prevented her from playing important matches before regionals. Even with these obstacles, she still found a way to make it to sectionals and was the only girl on the team to do so, but unfortunately she did not make it to state. She explained that making it to state is her goal for next season, especially since there is a new coach for the Girls Golf team this year. She says that this change in the coaching staff was a good change and helped them a lot this past season. Phillips added that the team gained several promising new players this year who could make this team even better.

Central's golf season is now coming to an end, having some good moments and some not so good moments. They have had a good run and went on to send some people to sectionals. The Central golf teams can't wait for next year to hopefully make it further and achieve more goals.

With sports starting up at Champaign Central High School, student athletes begin the tedious job of balancing athletics and school. For student athletes, doing well in school isn't just optional. There are requirements that must be met. Athletic director Jane Stillman says that “grades will be pulled every single Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. Athletes may only be failing one course in order to be ineligible. If they only have five courses, they must be passing all of them. They are given until Friday to make sure the grades are correct.” If student athletes are ineligible, they are not allowed to go to practice or games until the next week, provided that their grades have been raised by then.

Although it might sound easy, learning how to balance sports and school is a difficult and tiring process. Athletes leave home to go to school around 7:45 a.m. When school is finished they go directly to practice, which may end as late as 6:00 or 7:00 p.m. After getting home, they likely have to eat dinner, shower, etc. By the time the student athletes finally start their homework, they may already be exhausted and ready to be done for the day. This doesn't include nights when they have games- on those nights they might not come home until 9:00 or 10:00 p.m.

Some Central student athletes gave their advice for the best way to balance both sports and school. The general consensus is to take advantage of your study hall and practice good time management. Sophomore golfer Neiman Shivers practices for one and a half hours each weekday and has an additional two hours of homework, but still manages to keep up with the workload. Neiman shared some of her best tips: “Make sure you use your study hall and manage your time well. Always know school is number one.” Will O'Gorman, a senior baseball player, has practice for two hours each weekday during the baseball season and around two hours of homework each night as well. He also manages to stay on top of his work by managing his time wisely and using his study hall. Freshman Nina Nieto said she found this advice very helpful. Nina stated that “you can’t really play tennis without prioritizing school first.”

Coach Davis, a former Central teacher and current tennis coach gives advice based on his years of experience. He agrees with many of our student athletes and says, “the key to balancing the two is time management. Using time wisely will include using study halls and time in class efficiently and it will probably mean time on the weekends for school work. There is plenty of time for both, but it might necessitate a little planning on the athlete’s part.” One of the ways Coach Davis has seen athletes use their time wisely is by using the travel time on the way to competitions. “I've had athletes bring school work with them on trips and work on it on the bus or before and after the game,” Coach Davis said.

Finally, if athletes ever fall behind in school, Coach Davis encourages communication. “Always communicate with your coach if you anticipate problems,” he said. “I'm always willing to allow athletes to miss practices to catch up on school work, but I appreciate knowing ahead of time. If the problem is serious enough, it might require missing some time from the team. If it becomes a chronic problem it might mean reassessing with your coach whether it’s in your, and your teammates, best interest for you to remain on the team. Ultimately, doing well in school is the higher priority.”

As Cross Country season at Central High School is in full swing, our runners have been competing in meets all across the state. This year has been very different from other years, however; they all state that their individual seasons, as well as the teams as a whole, have gone really well, in spite of COVID concerns and coming back from a short season last year. Coach Hood mentioned that in their most recent meet, they got second place, losing only to the 11th ranked team in the state, and they had 4 placing individuals. Everett Carlson mentioned that even with the hot weather, “our best runners have been getting great times and we have had solid improvement across our team.”

Coach Hood, Enrique, and Carlson all talked about the transition from a shortened season back to a normal season, or in Enrique’s case, the transition from Middle School Cross Country to High School Cross Country. Coach Hood tells me the Girls Cross Country team has been “relatively unaffected by the Coronavirus,” and that they have still been wearing masks up to the starting line and putting them back on after they finish each race. Carlson tells me that this season is “very different,” and mentioned having bigger, more frequent meets, as well as having a state series this year. Carlson also mentioned that last year they would have different ways of trying to keep runners distanced, and they would have runners start 5 seconds after one another. Enrique is a Freshman, and says the transition to High School Cross Country has been pretty smooth because he did a lot of running in the off season; however, he is now at the lower end of the school again and running against older runners.

When asked if they have a favorite meet, Coach Hood, Carlson and Enrique were all quick to respond. Coach Hood immediately mentioned the First to the Finish Invite and said he really enjoyed it because it was held on the State Cross Country course, and it is one of the biggest and most competitive meets of the year. There are well over 50 teams competing at this meet and he says “it is a great opportunity for everyone on the team, regardless of their ability level, to have a competitive experience.” Carlson really likes any meets at the Detweiller course in Peoria. “There are multiple meets there, it’s a great course, and it runs fast. ...it’s one of the fastest courses in the state.” Enrique Beuschlein is also fond of the Detweiller course. “I like it because it is a really fast course and it is likely that you will set a PR on any of the meets there. It’s nice to have more than one meet at that course so you really get to know it well.”

Well there you have it. Our runners are pacing themselves 3 miles at a time and as we get closer to the end of the season, we start to see what our team is made of. Good luck on the rest of the season to both the Girls and Boys Cross Country teams and make us proud!

The Champaign Central Maroons Football team has started the year off 3-1 for the Freshman Team. The Varsity team however; has struggled as they start the year 0-4. Varsity is coming off a 48-0 loss to Normal Community and are scheduled to take on Manuel on Friday October 1st. The Maroons JV (Junior Varsity) team played Urbana on Monday September 20th but lost 16-12. These records are accurate as of Thursday, September 30, 2021 at 3:20, before the freshman game.

Champaign Central High School’s Varsity soccer team is getting better and better as the season goes on. Their record is 12-5-1, which means 12 wins, 5 losses, 1 tie. They are currently ranked 5th in the Big 12. The teams they have lost to were ranked 2nd, 6th, 10th, and 14th in state and they were all by one goal.

Varsity Coach, Nicholas Clegg, explained that to be a good team you need aspects such as communication and athletic ability, which the Varsity team definitely has. “Communication is vital, people need to know where their teammates are going to be positionally and they need to communicate who is going to step to the ball and who is going to provide help defensively” said Coach Clegg. In addition, “For varsity in order to start you need to be able to run 2 miles in under 13 minutes.” says Clegg.

Varsity is led in goals by Senior Kyle Johnson with 34 goals in 15 games, averaging 2 goals per game, followed up by Cooper Carson with 19 goals this year, averaging a little over a goal a game. Assist wise, the Central soccer team is also led by Kyle Johnson with 12 assists followed up by Diego Zarco with 8 assists.

But, while this team is good they still have to face some big challenges in the postseason with the number 2 and 13 teams ranked in the state in their division.

Junior Varsity is also finding success this season, with a record of 8-2 -1 “The only game we struggled in was Peoria Northern Dame.” Daniel says. He goes on to say they are a tough team but they could have done better to play more physically and have better communication, which are critical for well executed play. When speaking of Aaron Poetzel, Daniel says “He is a really strong player, he does everything at 110%.” Daniels also mentions players such as Julian Moss, Bobby Miller, and Chris Miller as players who routinely perform at 110%.

Earlier this week we had a chance to talk with some of the freshman players one-on-one to see how they thought everything was going so far. We first asked Starting Freshman Wide Receiver Luke Swanson how the season was going. He talked about how the freshman team got off to a good start starting the season 3-1. He was pleased with how the season was going so far. “Well for freshmen I think we're doing pretty good,” said Swanson.

Swanson continued to explain that the offense has a lot of good weapons for freshmen this year, “Our strengths are our back field. Our back field is really good. We have two really really fast running backs, Cole Vuglar and Ronald Baker”. He then went on to say that unfortunately one of their best running backs Brock Vandeveer suffered a broken collarbone in Monday’s JV game against Urbana.

We then talked to Freshman Corner Sammy Kang about what the team's weaknesses were. He talked about the new injuries of Brock Vandeveer and Aidan Walker and how those are going to be big losses on defense. He said those are two of their best tacklers on the team and they are both going to be a big loss. “Since Brock and Aidan are out the team's linebacker position is going to be a pretty big weakness for the team,” said Kang.

Then we talked to starting running back Ronald Baker. We asked him about when the team first started playing with each other and hanging around each other. He went on to say that the team came together over the summer and did weight lifting and just worked out. “The team came together around june-july ish, that was weight lifting though,” said Baker. The Maroons Football team has been with each for a while now and are looking forward to the remainder of the season.