As the 2023 fall sports season gets underway, the pirate football team remains hopeful. Off to a rough start, they’ve won a few of their games, with a few more matches within their grasp.
Last year, the Marshfield High School football team was a roller coaster of ups and downs, with a final season score of six wins and four losses. Before the 2022 season even started, there were people saying that it was going to be a horrible season and that they wouldn’t win a single game. It was considered their building year because of all the amazing seniors they lost the previous season.
“It’s always rough losing good groups of seniors, but that leaves room for growth,” Junior Elijah Fox said. “It’s just something every team in the game has to work around.”
The team never backed down from a fight last year, even when they knew everyone was against them. They made it to the first round of the playoffs, where they lost against Scappoose High School.
This year, the pirates have been working hard all summer, practicing as much as they can. They have been investing hours on the field, running drills, conditioning, etc. In addition, they have been putting in hours off the field watching countless hours of films, studying plays, and their opponents.
“Summer football helped me get to know my teammates and build team chemistry by going through trials together,” Senior Conner Middendorf explained. “It has kept me in shape and healthy.”
This season the team started off with quarterback Ashton Fitzgerald-Thornton, a junior, but due to an unfortunate injury he was unable to play. The pirates then looked to sophomore Enoch Niblett to get the job done. Even with almost zero varsity quarterback minutes, Niblett was ready to learn the plays and jump into action.
“I’m just happy to have this opportunity to be able to play and to hopefully lead the team to the playoffs,” said Niblett.
For such a young player, Niblett has proven himself worthy of his position, and is looking forward to improving in the future. That means the future team can only get more competitive.
“I’ve got respect for him, for willing to take it on,” said teammate Elijah Fox. “He’s doing good for the circumstances we’re in.”
New to the football scene this season is sophomore Mallory Ed. The football team recruited her from the girls soccer team to kick extra points for the varsity team. Since then, she has been making points for the team every opportunity she gets.
Marshfield Head Coach John Lemmons, has been coaching the team for seven years. This year he plans on taking the team to the next level. With a state championship title under their belt, the players look to his experience to help them succeed.
“Coach Lemmons has a lot of passion for the game,” Fox said. “You have to understand that he’s hard on you because he knows you have the potential to be great. He has taught me the morals that it is important to play your heart out and leave everything on the field.”
Since what seems like the beginning of time, Marshfield’s football team has been rivals with the North Bend Bulldogs. This rivalry is infamous across the community and a very large portion of the community tune in to watch or listen to the game. This season the pirates fell to the bulldogs but the game was filled with cheers and chants coming from both student sections. It was a tight game and had both sides on their toes.
“I believe we are going to start winning and playing up to our potential,” Niblett replied. “We have a lot of talent on this team and I think we’re going to make the playoffs.”
