Sunrise football ready to bounce back
After receiving their first loss of the season, courtesy of their undefeated rivals Liberty, the Mustangs head home and play their other cross-town rivals; the Peoria Panthers. The team feels prepared and ready to take the field on Friday night, Sept. 28. Sophomore Jake Leonard has high expectations for the game.
“I expect us to come and put it to Peoria,” Leonard said. “I believe we have the strength, size and speed to go very far into the postseason; but we need to take it one game at a time.”
The players feel that they have been practicing extremely hard all week and also feel that these practices are preparing them to take on the Panthers.
“We’ve been going hard all week at practice,” Leonard said. “Good practices lead up to good outcomes on Friday nights, and that’s what everyone wants.”
The players have chips on their shoulders from losing the previous week and want to go out there and get a win not only for themselves; but for anyone that is going to be there supporting the team. Junior Grant Oulton expands on this.
“I expect that there will be quite a few people there,” Oulton said. “So I want to go out there and get win for the team and the fans. We’re going to keep the tempo up and make it an exciting game.”
Ultimately, the team believes that they can come back from their first loss of the season and use it as a learning experience. Junior Sam Diggs also believes this to be true.
“We can bounce back,” Diggs said. “It’s only one game and losses generally make a team better. Now we are ready to go for our next game and have something to prove.”
While the Mustangs did lose bragging rights to their rivals, they feel closer as a team. While Sunrise has not beaten Peoria recently, the players feel this is the year to do so. They know what mistakes were made and are eager to stampede the field and show the visiting Panthers what they are all about.
UPDATE:
The varsity football team won against Peoria 40-30. They will next take on North High School on Oct. 4.
