The 7th-grade football team learned a valuable lesson this year: you can’t win ‘em all. Despite the team’s lack of wins, every game was a close one, and players and coaches alike had fun and learned a lot.

 A change in coaching roles occurred this year. 7th-grade football coach Edward Dickey, who served as offensive line coach last year, stepped into the co-offensive coordinator role alongside Walter Dupriest.  “Coach Dickey did an awesome job with the playbook,” says team quarterback and linebacker Lane Moore. “He was great in his playcalling.”

This new change was instrumental to the development of the team, which almost tripled the scoring as opposed to last year. The change was immediately effective and gave Westminster a great chance to come out victorious. “ After the first four games we could have been 3-1 instead of 0-4,” says Dupriest. “Our team fought until the end . . . but unfortunately came up just short.” 

There were concerns about the team’s confidence throughout the season, “The morale did at some points affect the overall mood of the team during the game,” says Moore. “But I also think everyone went into our games thinking that we had a chance to win.”

Assistant coach Rhode Hill says the team’s future looks bright with lots of talent and determination and all the team needs is more development. “They’re more skilled than previous teams, and I’m excited to see where they’re headed,” he says. One of those skill players is wide receiver Carr Warner, a big contributor to the team. “[I love] hitting people and playing Lovett,” he says.

Warner’s enthusiasm for the Lovett rivalry is shared by the entire team. The second Lovett game was a memorable heartbreaker. “It was unfortunate–but I’ll remember that game for a long, long time,” says Dupriest. “It was dark outside, it was wet, just like the football moment you dream of,” says Moore.

While the season wasn’t perfect, players and coaches agree, there is no limit to this team’s potential, and everyone is excited to see what the future holds.