For the first time since 2020, the Austin High football team has succeeded in advancing to the playoffs. Though their game ended in a loss, the team’s work and hardships shaped Austin High Football for the better. It’s not only the players’ skill that got Austin High to the playoffs but the team’s mentality too. Between seniors leaving and new coaches beginning, the players have lots of changes to get used to and overcome.

The football team has been working and training hard, not only to improve their skills and strength but also their teamwork. One thing that helped is that the new coaches joined during spring practice, as opposed to when coaches normally join during the summer. This gave the whole team more time to meet the coaches, get to know them, and for the coaches to learn about the team. The coaches quickly learned how important the team was to each other, and made sure to promote community and camaraderie among the players. “If you care about that guy next to you, you’ll block that much harder for him,” says Coach Brooks. “We haven’t changed much as far as how we’re pushing them because the guys are very driven on their own.” The team is ready to play hard and train hard for each other. “You have to lock in for your teammates” states Reed Childers, running back for the Austin High Maroons. They are motivated to win and to win together, and that makes the team that much stronger for it.

This was shown in the game against Bowie, where, even though Bowie was favored 45 to 10, the Austin High football team knew that the only way to playoffs was to play the best game they could and to win. Coach Brooks knew that this was an uphill battle, so he made sure the team was prepared. “I told the quarterback that he was going to have to play the best game of his career in order for us to make the playoffs,” Coach Brooks said “and he answered the call and he played really well”. The motivation for beating Bowie and proving everyone wrong wasn’t just for the quarterback though. Reed Childers says “We’re just playing…trying to prove something and trying to make people surprised”. This led Austin High to beat Bowie 35 to 32,  proving the projected score and many viewers of the game wrong.

Another big part of the mentality was making sure to focus on the week at hand. “Every week is a new week and you treat it as: we’re trying to go one and O this week,” Coach Brooks says. By only focusing on the week ahead of them, the team isn’t worrying about previous wins or losses, but just the game that they are going to play on Friday. The team can put away all other distractions from other games, practices, to even stuff outside of football, and just focus on the present.

Football is a game of love; going into any match, the team has to love each other, their coaches, and the game. “The team, all together as one, is the reason we’re here. I think everybody gets the credit,” Coach Brooks says, giving credit to his fellow coaches, the trainers, the school, but most importantly the players and their ability to play and fight like nothing else for the team. Even though this season might be over, Austin High’s players and coaches have grown and learned from their successes.