Fields from the Frontline: Football continues 4-game winning streak

Jaden Fields
Junior Editor

Seniors Jerqon Conners (11) and Enrique Quinones (10) celebrate a second touchdown by Conners.

Coaches James LeMay, Matthew Doner and Desmond Reichold yell plays from the sidelines.

Webster players get into position for a first down by Hazelwood Central at their first home game on Friday, Sept. 6.

First Home Game: Seniors Jerqon Conners (11) and Enrique Quinones (10) celebrate a second touchdown by Conners. Webster players get into position for a first down by Hazelwood Central at their first home game on Friday, Sept. 6. Coaches James LeMay, Matthew Doner and Desmond Reichold yell plays from the sidelines. Photos by Addie Palmquist

Varsity football enters a sudden winning streak after a season of hardships.

Following a game a few weeks ago, Varsity football has seemingly lifted whatever “curse” had been on the team for the past seasons. The sudden success from the team may be credited to one crucial factor: unity.

Last season, three leading players were injured, with at least some form of injury every game, and as a result, this caused morale to suffer to an extent.

“A lot of our senior leaders were injured last year Enrique (Quinones), who plays quarterback is a major of a leader on the field. . . Maurion (Clemons) was out as well Cole (Schnettgoecke) was out beginning of this season, but now that they’re back too, a lot of people have stepped up, and they’ve helped lead the underclassmen to playing better as well as their individual abilities,” senior Preston Haney said.

Another improvement from past seasons to this one is this season, practice attendance has greatly improved, further amplifying unity.

“[A past difficulty was] people not showing up, and we had no team bonding last year, so we didn’t have that bond, but we have it this year. . .all of our practices making sure people showed up and people got more physical this year and started learning the plays, and that helped a lot,” senior Noah Arinze said.

The first win after a stretch of bad luck came at the team’s game against Ritenour High School on Sept. 27. Webster won with a score of 48-7, cheerleaders and the student section flooding into the field after the final buzzer went off. This win seemingly lifted the team out of whatever rut it had been in, propelling it down a streak of four wins in a row.

One of the most exciting wins of the season came on the team’s senior night at Moss Field. The game was against Lindbergh on Oct. 11.

Time was almost up for the fourth quarter, with a score of 31-35 Lindbergh. While the student section had been nearly full during the start of the game, nearly all the students left around halftime, resulting in hardly any students rallying support.

Despite the lack of support, the team pulled through with a touchdown at the last second, resulting in fans, cheerleaders, other players, and remaining students rushing into the field in celebration. The Statesmen ended up winning 37-35.

The team has been calling this successful season its “comeback season,” with many looking forward to the upcoming Turkey Day Game that takes place on Thanksgiving against Kirkwood.