The Student Council and NHS offered and decided to bring pizza to the Unified game on Monday September 25 for the student section. Along with this, Assistant Principal Mr. Love offered free tickets for anyone that wished to attend. This alleviated the financial issues of not being able to go to sporting events.
Student Council Advisor Michelle Lynn stated that they bought 25 pizzas for the event, totaling up to a remarkable $200. Luckily, the NHS helped to pay for the pizzas splitting the cost up. Lynn, along with a few other people were on the track passing out pizzas, they said they got quite the arm stretch out of the evening.
“We wanted to support the Unified athletes and have an incentive for the other kids and students to support them too. Pizza is always fun. We did some nice stretching, even short Gretchen could do it,” Lynn said.
Freshman Abraham Lopez had a very great game. This was his very first year playing flag football, and he has grown so much. Coaches Tina Taylor and Jackie Ingle got him into Flag Football. He said overall the season for him went pretty well and he improved tons. He received the player of the game award from Monday’s game, due to his hardworking attitude and good plays.
“[Unified Flag Football] sounded pretty interesting and I wanted to try some new sports,” Lopez said.
“Abraham is more confident [since the beginning of the year], has a better understanding of the game and what we need from him on the field,” Taylor said.
The idea of bringing Varsity cheerleaders was brought up and put into action in this game. Junior Ruth Parker stepped up to the plate and decided to lead the home section in cheering on the Pioneers. She has been cheering for a total of seven years in her life, starting all the way back from a little basketball team to All Star Cheerleading. She effortlessly and confidently hyped them up and really got the crowd excited for the athletes. Parker was standing on the sidelines all by herself cheering, which was definitely something she wasn’t used to. Coach Taylor, along with many others, were so ecstatic that Parker came and cheered the game.
“I loved [her coming], I hate she was by herself, but it was awesome she came here by herself to cheer and get the crowd pumped up,” Taylor said.
Principal Wes Upton decided to go up and cheer alongside Parker. She thought it was hilarious, because at first she didn’t even notice him next to her. She taught him two different cheers which was fun as a cheerleader to teach others, overall cheering with her principal was pretty great to her. Parker received athlete of the week for stepping up and supporting Unified athletes.
“It was a different experience, obviously you’re used to cheer with others, but being able to cheer by yourself was a fun experience,” Parker said.
“It was my first time cheering [a Unified Flag Football game] but it definitely won’t be my last,” Parker said.
Switching from Tackle Football to Flag Football can be a difficult switch for some, but not for Sophomore Micah Mohler. He effortlessly made this transition. Mohler first got into the sport from a suggestion from a friend, but soon found that he was quite upstanding with it. He played one year of tackle football, his freshman year, and now moved on. He is a defensive player for Unified and has started most games. Seeing the winning scoreboard at the end of a game really keeps him going. Overall Mohler is a pretty versatile player.
“I feel like my coverage is really good and my attitude,” Mohler said.
“I think Micah’s done a great job, he knows the game really well which helps up a lot,” Taylor said.
At the end of the day, victories like this one have the coaches to thank. Coach Taylor has been coaching for five years and says that this group of kids have gotten along the best out of any other. The teamwork and cooperation is definitely together for this group. This game was just one of the many that continues to prove this point.
“We played really well, they were aggressive and we went out there and played the game we needed to win,” Taylor said.
