With the warm spring weather coming around the corner, the varsity football season is officially in full swing. With strict requirements for weekly COVID-19 testing and mandatory facial coverings, the district is allowing sports to move forward this spring. Unfortunately, due to safety precautions, the length of the seasons have been significantly reduced and each team only plays four games. Senior Logan Russell said it is frustrating to have a season end when it has barely started.
“It’s tough having such a short season, but we’re trying to stay positive and make the best of our situation,” Russell said.
With the season passing its halfway point, the Vikings remain at 0-2, and hope to get their first win against Bothell on March 26, 2021. The team fought with grit until the very end, but they could not get it done against North Creek and Woodinville on March 12 or March 19.
Junior Ioseph Flores has taken charge as the new starting quarterback for varsity this season. In his game against Woodinville, he threw two touchdowns: one to Senior WR Logan Russell and one to sophomore Brandon Manzano. Inglemoor dominated the rushing game, with 128 yards in comparison to North Creek’s 65. However, the downside was that those rushing yards couldn’t translate into touchdowns. Inglemoor finished the game with only 71 passing yards. Russell said the team specializes in running plays versus passing plays.
“I think we had a lot of potential in our game against Woodinville; it was great football,” Russell said. “We are going to build off last week and come back stronger.”
The first half of the game was tough for the Vikings, but they turned it on quickly in the second half and scored two drives. They weren’t able to pull out the win, but they showed tenacity in the second half. Despite the tough losses, Senior Nick Samuels said he was just thankful for the opportunity to play this season.
“We are all just glad we get a season to begin with and get to play our best football in all four games,” Samuels said.
If there’s anything people learned from this year, it is how to adapt to change. One of the hardest parts about football during COVID-19 is playing without the student section cheering them on.
“We miss having that amazing student section cheering us on, but we are just going to adapt and energize each other as teammates,” Samuels said.
Aspiring to end 2-2 on the season, the team will have to bring their energy and passion to their next two games. They will play Bothell on March 26, and then Woodinville with an undecided date.
