On Thursday, May 15 the spring game will be held at 6:30 p.m. marking a close to the spring football season for the mavericks. Parents and students are invited to come and watch. Both varsity and junior varsity (JV) teams will scrimmage and be split into two teams, second string and first string.
“For me, not playing right now has allowed me to be very observant,” junior running back and safety Aden Taylor said. “I’ve seen a lot more of the freshmen that are actually pretty good, they’ve shown that they’ve been able to keep up. We just need them to step up and start learning more plays and for the most part that all I see, it’s the same with JV.”
Taylor said he hopes that the Mavericks will have a playoff run next season and go farther than they have in the past two years, especially because of “the lack of depth” the varsity and JV team have. Taylor said they’re working with what they have right now and striving to be better.
“With how things look right now we’re just gonna have to put players where they fit,” Taylor said. “We have a lot of seniors leaving, so we have to fill those holes. A lot of the JV kids that are moving up will play defensive wise because we lost a lot of defensive players.”
The Mavericks will have different players on the field as seniors move out, but one unfamiliar face will be junior wide receiver Brian Perkins. Brian left McNeil to play his junior season in Utah, but returned due to a hamstring injury.
“I think this varsity team, especially next year’s seniors, we’re all really in sync,” Perkins said. “Most of us grew up together and a lot of us are good friends. We just have a great connection on and off the field.”
With Perkins coming back and into a different team atmosphere he said he notices how both sides of the ball are experiencing a lot of competitiveness, but he knows his role on the field and his teammates.
“I just want to get back on the field. I have a lot of hope for next season,” Perkins said. “We have Zach Christie and Jarell Gary—they’re considered deep threats, but I’ll be there to step in when I can and do my best for the team.”
Junior wide receiver Zach Christie said for this next season this team has a goal. It’s to go as far as they can. J the team has been practicing really hard for spring ball getting ready for the fall season. For some players like Taylor, this next season isn’t just about a goal, it’s about stepping up as a leader as well.
“I just want to keep leading,” Taylor said. “ I want to help my teammates by pointing them in the right direction and help take this team as far as we can go into next season.”
