September 16th, 2022 Mountain Crest High School had their varsity homecoming football game. Stakes were high for the football game after their last home loss against there rival, Ridgeline. The team went out with confidence and you could tell they were prepared on how they played on the field. The mustangs were playing the game with there heads high and they continued to work hard all the way to the end. This hard work got the mustangs their third win with the score of 14-0. The captains were asked some questions on who they feel lead the game, how their new coach has helped the team, and how they stay hyped or confident throughout the game.

Who do you feel lead the team? All of the captains had a combined opinion that all of the defensive  players lead the game. Kolton Kirby stated “The defensive line made sure that we didn’t give green canyons quarterback enough time to think and our secondary’s never let the receivers have a chance to get past and get a good catch.” Coach Stevenson who is the defensive line coach said that the whole defense played very well together this game and the line set up others around to get good tackles. He specifically said that Porter Kennington (Junior) and Brayden Tannahill (Senior) had a very impressive game and that they were set up very nicely to secure multiple game changing plays such as sacking Green Canyons quarter back multiple times. Nik Tolbert(Senior) and Cooper Gardner(Senior) also said that offense has some really amazing plays. Nik Tolbert said “The offensive line was doing a good job at making sure our running backs could make a good play and Casey Crofts(Junior) did a really good job at connecting the ball to our wide receivers.”

How has the new coach affected this team throughout the season? This is the second year in a row that mountain crest has gotten a new head coach. This years head coach is Coach Visser. When the captains were asked how they feel this new coach has affected the team this year and they all had great things to say. Kolton Kirby and Nik Tolbert both said that this new coach has helped a lot with the mental game and to make sure that they never go into a game without being prepared.

How do you stay confident throughout the game? Football can either be a very confidence boosting game or can really ruin your mindset depending on how the game is going. It is always important to stay confident because right when you lose the confidence your game falls apart. During Cooper Gardner’s (Senior) interview he made sure to give a big shout out to Casey Crofts(Junior) for keeping the team confident. He said that he makes sure that no one ever feels like any bad play was just their fault and constantly reminds everyone that this is a team sport and not just one person can do it. All of the captains and the coaches said that one thing that keeps them most motivated is hearing that the student sections is getting loud and are excited for the game. The student section getting loud helps them feel confident in themselves and the team.

After talking to all the players you can tell how badly they want to continue a winning streak. They feel confident in there teams power to communicate throughout the game and they know that there new coach will help them navigate through the rest of the season and hopefully pull our a few more wins. I am excited to see how the rest of the season folds out and so should you.