2016 season (HS SENIOR) - grabursock55's Blog

grabursock55's Blog

2016 season (HS SENIOR)

Posted on October 16, 2014 at 12:17 AM.

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Sitting in front of a room full of people was never something I enjoyed doing. Especially when I knew I was being evaluated on every little aspect of my being. I felt a little comfort having coach Thompson by my side, but honestly, I think he was just as nervous as I was.
You see, Jackson Pines never had much football tradition, but our trip to the playoffs got the school district thinking. After seeing the community rally around our school and athletes, the school partnered with the Jackson Pines Broadcasting Company to create a weekly show that would be broadcast throughout Jackson Pines. It just so happened that for their first ever broadcast, they would do a live shoot of a preseason press conference (also new to us) and neither of us really knew how to handle all of this new found attention.

"Jack," I snapped out of my daze and looked down over the room speckled with silouettes "In the preseason scrimmage against Port Boyerton South, the team looked good, and many people who were watching said that Jackson Pines would have won if that were a real game. Can you give us your thoughts about that game? Would Jackson Pines have won if that was an official contest?"
I looked at the woman who asked the question and took a moment to gather my thoughts. "Well..." I started, "I think.. I think we played well as a unit. But..." The words were not coming easily for me. "But... I think our kicking game really showed up, our kicker, Soloman Barry went 3 for 3 and a quality kicker in high school is a rarity." I looked at coach Thompson and noticed he was nodding his head.
"Do you think Jackson Pines won that game?" The woman asked again.
"You know, I'm not sure. We play against them week 4 this year, so I'll give you an answer then!"
The audience laughed and I saw another hand shoot up.
"Coach Thompson," A man with a deeper grizzled voice said "Do you see yourself in the playoffs again this season? What needs to happen for you to make the playoffs?"
I looked at coach Thompson as he was collecting himself, and I could tell he was beginning to feel more confident. He was happy that I had to answer the first question and not him. Coach Thompson started "You know, last year a lot of things fell into place for us. We snuck into the playoffs with a 5-3 record as a #10 seed. This year, our schedule really looks favorable. We are playing a lot of northern tier teams so we will have to see how well our kids travel on some of these long bus rides but I think we will manage. Honestly, the guy sitting next to me is going to be a big part of our teams production."
I felt a powerful feeling in the pit of my stomach, as coach Thompson continued "The team knows who the captain is, our opponents know who we are giving the ball to, and the college scouts are going to know who to send scholarships to. This kid has more talent than any athlete I have ever seen."
I felt an overwhelming sense of anxiety and excitemet at one time. The rest of the interview seems like a blur from there. I felt locked in from that point on. I knew that coach wasnt lying. I needed to carry the team on my back to get us to a playoff spot again this year.

2016 Schedule
9/9 @ Hopewell
9/16 ST. BENJAMIN
9/23 BYE
9/30 @ Port Boyerton South
10/7 PORT BOYERTON NORTH
10/14 BARNHART TECH
10/21 HUSS
10/28 @ Hendrickson
11/4 @ Tyloria

The hype train is running late this year in Jackson Pines. The Local sportscasters in Port Boyerton are picking the Jays to finish an all too familiar 3-5 this year. Honestly, I dont know if I can blame them. But I'm sure not going to let some sportscasters who dont know us tell us how my senior season will end. But I will admit, this season will really challenge us if we are going to make a playoff run.

College offers by week (** CURRENT CALIBER**)
1: Lock Haven University of PA (*)
2: