Players and coaches for the 8th-grade football team persevered through terrible injuries and tough losses all year and ended up with a tight bond and a couple of key victories to build upon.

Although the team finished 2-4, Head 8th-grade Football coach and offensive coordinator Chad Laney said there were lots of good things to come out of this season, including being exposed to Varsity-level strategies. “The introduction to some higher level concepts… defensive blitz packages, multi-formational offense [are very important],” he says. “We’re really proud of the exposure that we are getting [the team] to these advanced formations and strategies. ”

In the offseason, Westminster made an important hire, the team’s defensive coordinator. Reid Hamilton, a Westminster Alum and former Lovett coach, had a huge impact on the team all year. Hamilton brought a different type of energy that the team had not yet seen. “He’s been Amazing,” says Laney. “ It was always a challenge to coach against him—it’s been a dream come true to have him back.”

The 8th-grade Football team was plagued by injury all season, as several players were unable to play the full six-game schedule. The team suffered a hard blow when Ford Levings, the starting running back, was injured early in the season. Samuel Drucker and Adam Smith also suffered unfortunate season-ending injuries.  “You can’t replace people like this—you just have to adjust and move forward,” says Laney. “Gotta’ have a next-man-up mentality.”

With that next-man-up mentality, the team ended with two convincing wins against St. Pius and arch-rival Lovett, led by emphatic performances from the lineman, a defense at its best, and a fired-up offense. “We don’t give up,” says wide receiver Blake Patterson. “We don’t let up, we don’t waste time, we keep playing ‘till the clock hits 0.”