Jessica Clouser
The community tailgate sparks excitement for the game on Friday night. The community was invited to gather around to talk over dinner and spread laughter with the community. Concord hosts this every year for the first home game of the football season.
A new tradition started the morning of the game when seniors went down to the elementary school to make signs with the kindergarteners for their first high school football game and the seniors’ last first home football game. They had a great time bonding with the kids and held their signs as they walked through the field side by side with the seniors.
The boys played hard and completely blew out Athens, scoring 78 points while playing excellent defense. They scored a total of 10 touchdowns, with Nathan Fritz and Luke Burrow leading the way with two touchdowns each. Gavin Riske contributed with 1 touchdown and 3 assists. Senior Trenton Frazer and juniors Garrett Tyler, Jeffery Thomas, and Adam Miller scored one each, as well as freshman Wyatt Mandrelle.
Jeffery Thomas, a junior on the team, thinks that the game went well overall. A few improvements could be made to the offense, but the defensive part went very well. A goal that Thomas has is to beat Mendon and Deerfield, and the boys are on their way to doing so.
Coach Max Clark is proud of the outcome of the game, sharing that he believes, ¨The boys put forth a lot of effort: they executed our game plan just like we wanted to and just did what they were supposed to do.¨ When asked about possible improvements for the team, he responds with, ¨There are always improvements that could be made. We will learn from watching the film and tweaking and improving our technique.¨ He shares that the team is already visibly improving in only a week. In the previous game, they had 4 turnovers, and Friday night, they had none. Coach Clark additionally shares that the team is focused on the process and not outcomes. The boys take every practice and game seriously and give it their all, and that work will pay off.
Senior Tyler Rundle, who is a wide receiver and defensive back, felt that he did really well with his blocking and defense this game, as well as offense scoring. Something he feels that could be worked on is mental mistakes, but he feels that the team will take the time to work on getting over those and will be okay in a couple of weeks. When asked about goals, he shares that, ¨ There are a few teams we’ve got to beat, you know. Pittsford and Holgate, our game at Albion, I’m looking forward to that.¨
The boys play at Mendon on Friday, the 12th, at 5:00 pm. Come show your school spirit and support the boys through the game. We look forward to seeing you there!