By Amanda Tennant, staff writer
Sep. 10, 2015 – The audience roars as the 2015-2016 Indian Trail High School and Academy football team storms out onto Jaskwhich field for their first game of the school year. Students and the ITHS&A pep band cheer from the stands as the Hawk football team sets up for their match against the town rival, the George Nelson Tremper Trojans. This game was as fierce as it was successful for the Hawks with an impressive 42-7 victory against the Trojans.
“We played really well that night. We came out with a lot of energy and had a real high degree of execution,” said ITHS&A Football Coach Michael McKay.
This game wasn’t the first win for the Hawks. After this September evening, the team’s record stood at 4-0 in the Southeast Conference, with an overall record of 4-2-0, according to wissports.net (At press time, the team’s record had dropped to 4-4 overall and 4-2 in the Southeast Conference following tough losses to Franklin and Horlick. In both games, the team was without its starting quarterback who is injured.)
McKay reflects on the goals for the rest of the season.
“Our goals, on a day-to-day basis, is just to get better every day, and get better every week. I just want to make sure we are playing at the highest level we can play at,” said McKay.
“I feel like we have gotten better every week. I feel like we are working hard to improve and playing really hard with a lot of enthusiasm.”
With the season still ongoing, the Hawks have a few more games planned in their schedule.
The Hawks’ quality performances on the field are building quite a fanbase, with support coming from various parts of the school.
Inspired by such a dynamic record that pushes state rankings, Skylar Vernezze, a comprehensive junior and drumline member, reflects on how the football games bring excitement to Indian Trail.
“They are a lot of fun. I love being out on the field since I play drumline,” said Vernezze.
“I would totally recommend [going to a football game].”