The crowd is going wild and the student section is packed as the Huntley Red Raiders football team does their signature march into the stadium. Students have been making plans for this night all week and the players’ bodies are becoming numb as they walk onto the field in Raider Nation Stadium. 

Each player has been eagerly waiting for the 7 p.m. kick-off since the moment their alarms woke them up and they put on their uniforms to wear to school. The team flips the switch and focuses on the challenge in front of them. A feeling Chris Medina, senior linebacker and captain of the football team, has felt many times through his four years of Huntley football.

Day in and day out, Medina was the hardest worker on Huntley’s football team. Whether it was the middle of the scorching hot summer or the middle of winter, Medina was always fully committed to becoming a better football player.

“Football is year-round. There are always things you can do to get better. I would work out every day during the summer and go on late night runs to stay in top shape,” Medina said. 

While other teens were hanging out with friends and enjoying the months off of school, Medina kept his priorities straight and knew that in order to be great he had to do things others were not willing to do. Even during the off-season, Medina watched film to make sure he had the coverages down so he can win every matchup he is in.

“Chris is a very motivational guy. He always plays hard and plays to the whistle. He hypes the boys up,” Huntley High School football player Abraham Christian said. “Chris Medina is for sure the hardest worker on the high school football team.”

Whether you were a starter for varsity or on the scout team, Chrisitan saw that Medina was a leader and would talk to anybody. Medina believed in the brotherhood of Huntley’s football team and felt they were a second family to him.

Medina’s love for the game of football started at a young age. He was always soaking up the game like a sponge and has been 100% dedicated since day one.

“I noticed right away while other kids were running around playing tag and not paying attention to the coaches, Chris was standing there with his hands behind his back, eyes to the front, learning from what he was being taught,” Medina’s father, Chris Medina Sr. said. “That’s when I knew he would be a great student of the game.”

Even though Medina’s time under the bright lights of Huntley has come to an end, he will never forget the memories and relationships he has built from his high school career.

“I am planning on playing football in college, but it will be nothing like the family I have made [in Huntley],” Medina said. “If I were to go back, I wouldn’t change a thing.”