With the school year just starting, there is one thing at the front of everyone’s mind: football season. Training for the past several months, the football team is well prepared for this season, and they have put the finishing touches on the offseason, selecting the leadership committee and electing the team captains.
At the end of spring football, this past May, the football coaches selected the leadership committee, consisting of 12 people, 7 seniors and 5 juniors. The group is considered the backbone of the team and they meet weekly. According to Coach Jonathan Short, the leadership committee “discusses different topics about the team and how [they] can keep peaking throughout the season.
For the juniors, the leaders are John Wunderlick, Dalton Allen, Jack Metz, Jordan Rice and Jaxson Fearing. Among the seniors are Peyton Long, Adam Holtz, Ryan “DJ TyGuy” Brooks, Connor Lanpher, Matt Metz, and Max Loughborough. Each player was satisfied with being selected, and for Connor Lanpher ’16 in particular, being elected “means to lead and be an example on and off the field.” Lanpher added that he would “like to hold [his] teammates accountable and make sure [they] are fulfilling their potential.”
Coach Short, the offensive coordinator, has similar views for his team and his expectations are high. When asked about his goals for the team, Short stated that he hopes his team can “work hard all year, and stay committed so that [they] can achieve their goal, winning district.”
Once the leadership committee was announced, the team switched to strictly conditioning workouts throughout the summer and succeeded in them. After seeing which seniors stood out and helped lead the team, the whole varsity team voted on which five out of the seven seniors deserve to be one of the team captains.
2015 Captains. Excited to see these young men lead our team! pic.twitter.com/MV67XQaayP
— Brandon Hickman (@CoachBHickman) August 15, 2015
This past Friday, the football team elected seniors Austin Koehler, Connor Lanpher, Peyton Long, Matt Metz, and Ryan Brooks. With the first game coming up in two weeks, these five guys hope to prepare their squad to achieve all their team goals.
According to Brooks, being elected as a captain means to “set an example both on and off the field, and motivate our team to win and get better each week.” Brooks added that “this team has a lot of potential and if we can continue to put a high effort in, we have a shot at making a big playoff run.”
Peyton Long, the other defensive captain, does not have a goal for his team overall, but rather weekly. Long stated that the first goal is “to beat Arlington Bowie then focus on each opponent one week at a time.”
Overall, a common goal for the team is to improve as the season goes on. For the third and final defensive captain Austin Koehler, he hopes to “set a high standard for the rest of the team early so that we can have continued success as the season progresses.”
This season will certainly be exciting for the Rangers so come out and show your support for the team at their first game August 28 at Postell Stadium vs. Arlington Bowie.
