Excitement buzzes in the air as the varsity football team marches onto the field to warm up and start some drills before they play.
On their last home game of their season, the bleachers are filled with swarms of people wearing pink to support Breast Cancer Awareness, despite the weather not being in their favor. The wind is harsh, and the rain comes in waves, but nothing gets in the way of another victory against their opponents, Dundee Crown.
Huntley High School is currently 7-1 in the Fox Valley Conference for football, putting the varsity team in second place overall.
In the third quarter, Huntley scored another touchdown against Crown, putting their overall points at 20-7. Little did they know, there would be many more to come, leading to their ultimate victory.
“It’s going to be wet outside, so it’s going to be a big running game and not a lot of passing. It’s going to be a good game for all of the [offensive] linemen and me,” senior Haiden Janke said.
In a big game where the tensions are high and the desire to win is even greater, the team has to keep their minds focused on the game and their emotions hidden in order to avoid getting flagged.
“Our coaches tell us all the time to be a goldfish,” Janke said. “You’ve got 15 seconds to remember that play and then you’re done. You just gotta move on to the next play.”
Just one week ago, Huntley won a close game against Cary Grove with a score of 29-28, just one point leading them to victory.
“Just last Saturday, we beat Cary Grove at Cary Grove on their homecoming,” coach Michael Slattery said. “We scored on the last play of the game, we went for two points and got that, and won the game at the very last second.”
With confidence boosted from their recent win, they carried that over to yesterday’s game with high hopes for another win.
“We’re not doing anything differently for Dundee Crown,” coach Mike Naymola said. “We’re just kind of getting back to our normal routine. I’m a big believer in routine and being able to stay at it. We wouldn’t do anything more or less if we were playing Dundee Crown or were playing in the state championships.”
Last night, Huntley High School defeated Dundee Crown with a score of 35-7, even in the pouring rain.
