In the season of pumpkin spice and spooky Halloween weather is an event that all high schoolers look forward to as the pinnacle of the high school experience. Millard South football came out this fall season and showed up with a 7-1 to an almost undefeated season.
On Oct. 4, Millard South and Papillon LaVista went up against each other to test which football team would come out on top. Millard South ended the match with a loud 56-21. Whether it was the homecoming spirit or the pure skill of the players, the game had many highlights. This leads some to wonder, what makes our team so successful. The answer is clearly found in this game.
“You know, prior to the game, we were kinda choppy. “Coach Wisdom said. “Eventually, we got our guys settled in and took care of business on the feels and like what was needed to do good. The guys they played a tremendous second half, especially that game.”
And settled in they did. As the Patriots neared the endzone, Junior Quarterback, Jett Thomalla made a direct pass to Junior Tight-end Issac Jensen who caught the ball, perfectly open in the endzone. Senior Trenton Vansurksum scored on the try shortly after, kicking up an extra point for the Patriots. This play marked the first score of the game, 7-0.
This strategy is built and put simple by head-coach Wisdom. “Every game I go in the same way, I’ll be drilling on a player basically each week, and the homecoming game was no different. Let’s go out and execute our policies and get the result that we wanted,” he said.
Right from the time-out whistle during the first quarter, the Patriots responded with a drive. Following the rest of the 1st quarter, the defensive line opened up area for passes for this next play. Junior running-back Gabe Prutcha was able to score the first rushing touchdown of the game, straight in the endzone, supported by defensive players, Junior Kal Boyer and Junior Jack Ladd. Patriot style, the try from Vansurksum secured another point for the team. Setting up for a 14-0 game.
The game ended just as strong as it started. It was clear there was no holding back for the opposing team, as sophomore Quarterback, Blake Mcandrews ran a well-balanced 21-yard drive and then just shortly after, made a run for the touchdown, just outside of the endzone, reaching just far enough for the last touchdown of the game. The try was successful leaving a victorious score for the patriots to wrap up the game at 56-21.
“The next place, always the best place,” said Jett Thomalla. “It means to focus on the next play and forget about what you did bad on the last play,” he said.
This is a mantra setting the patriots up for the rest of the football season before it comes to an end.
With the end of football season comes the long-awaited battle for the title of state champs. Millard South this year could truly be a possible holder of that title. When asked, “We focus on just literally day-by-day, not trying to get caught up,” said Wisdom. “We want to be process-oriented. Not outcome-oriented. We’ll find out on Saturday who we play. And then we’ll really start focusing on the matter problem then.”
The season won’t last forever. As shown by the homecomeing game, theres a lot of hardwork and talent being put out by our millard south football team. In an effort to support our football team’s conquest for state, consider going out to our student section on a Thursday or Friday night and cheering on the plays like a patriot!
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