The varsity football team’s journey to playoffs
PHOTO Myranda Stark
With the banner behind them, the varsity football team runs onto the field to face Walled Lake Northern High school. The tigers won this game 58-7 on Oct. 25.
November 5, 2019
Beating out last season’s record of 6-2, the Fenton High varsity football team improved this fall with a record of 9-1. Many players on the team attribute this year’s success to their team chemistry and hard work.
“A wake-up call for us was the loss to Davison,” senior Brady Triola said. “We all realized what we needed to do to be successful, and from that point on we really just worked harder than ever. We also spent time together outside of football in order to make sure we could connect with each other all the time. We grew as friends and basically into a family.”
After losing their season opener to Davison, the team continued to practice, push each other and make changes to improve their performance.
“We’ve been preparing for this season for years it seems like,” junior Marcus Berkey said. “The seniors do a good job of pushing us juniors to be at our best potential. They call us out for not giving effort and always make sure we are giving it our all, because they know we will not get better giving half effort. I’ve never been on a team like this one.”
The tiger’s combined effort and hard work helped them claim the Overall Metro League Champion Title on Oct. 12, where they won against Goodrich High School.
“Beating Goodrich was one of the best feelings in the world; I cannot explain how happy we were to get that win,” Berkey said. “It wasn’t even the title that was important to us, but the fact that they disrespected us by laughing and taunting us during warmups made our victory very enjoyable.”
Two weeks later, on Nov. 1, the varsity football team also won their first playoff game against South Lyon High School; this was their ninth win in a row.
“Winning our first round of playoffs is amazing,” Triola said. “It’s definitely something I am proud of and am super excited that the team was able to accomplish. During the summer we talked about having success like this. Now to have done it, we are beyond happy about how far we’ve come as a team.”
Advancing further into the playoffs, the tigers will meet different opponents and obstacles.
“Although I don’t believe we have many weak spots on the team,” junior Dylan Davidson said, “as we go farther in the playoffs, the teams we face tend to outsize us. But, what we lose in size we make up for in the techniques we use and how hard we play.”
The next step for the varsity team is to face Walled Lake Western in an away game for the second round of playoffs; they are hoping to make history.
“What we’ve accomplished so far definitely feels good,” Davidson said, “but the season does not feel complete yet. The team and I want to have a 10 win season, which we are only one game away from, and we also want to win a regional title. Both have never been done by a Fenton team before.”
Students and staff can support the varsity football team by traveling to Walled Lake Western High School to cheer them on this Friday, Nov. 8.
