Not In The Lead But Not Giving Up

After defeating the Bolton Wildcats at the”BHS Bowl” on Aug. 20 with a score of 27-7, the football team seemed bound for success.

However, the next week’s loss to Brighton with a score of 47-14 had fans, players and coaches wondering if they will have as successful year as they had hoped. Those two were then followed by two more losses against Millington and Houston.

“Winning ain’t easy,” Assistant Coach Mitch McDaniel said.

Head coach Robert Armbruster has trouble explaining the losses.

“I don’t think we’ve played very well these past three weeks,” he said.

Senior offensive guard Belal Kamara agrees with the coaches:

“Most of the team gave up when we were down by two touchdowns, and they did not think we could come back. Also, we had a lot of turnovers on offense,” he said.

The coaches feel some of the responsibility for the loss regarding the Brighton game.

“I take the fall for the Brighton game because I tried to put a new defense, something we weren’t accustomed to playing…I tried to out guess ourselves I guess,” Armbruster said.

Both coaches seem to feel the same way.

“We put the loss on our shoulders as coaches,” McDaniel said. “We haven’t figured out how to win yet.”

The players are not blaming the coaches, though.

“No, they aren’t at fault. They aren’t out there on the field; the players are,” Kamara said.

On game days the school is a veritable sea of red and blue: The painted faces, the wildly decorated clothing, and the various spirit signs and banners prove that the team has loads of support. Even many of the teachers “suit up” in jerseys on the day.

“I think that whatever we do affects everybody,” sophomore cat safety Austin Washburn said.

Students try to follow what the team does. They get fired up for the games.

“It gets the school excited about more than just two o’clock,” senior Andrew Washburn said.

When the game is over however, the spirit certainly does not subside.

“If we win a football game, the mood of the school definitely goes up, but if we lose, the whole school rallies together to win another one, so it’s not like we ever lost,” senior mascot Robbie Walker said.

Many players feel that support, not only from the school at pep rallies and at games, but also from each other.

“This team works much harder than any team we’ve had,” Armbruster said.

The players agree: “We work as a team better this year than last year because we lost all of our ‘superstars.’ We are more level-headed this year,” Kamara said.

The team is looking forward to more games, and they are hoping for more wins.

“I think we have a pretty good shot to do well. We have a lot of depth on the team, more than usual,” senior line backer Jesse Brereton said.

Brereton is not the only player looking ahead. “We are very ambitious this year, and we have a good chance to make the playoffs,” Kamara said.

Track moves forward in sectionals

The Bartlett track team has been having a great season. Their five qualified runners participated in their first day of sectionals on May 7, and they have two more days of sectionals on May 18, and 20. The five qualifiers must make it into the top four in their event to qualify for the state competition.

The team has worked hard to improve their speed and to drop their times this season. According to head coach Mitch McDaniel the boys reached their peak at the right time.

Sophomore and first-time runner Chance Keeley has improved since the start of the year and now he clocks a time of 4:43 on the mile run. Also, sophomore Ryan Wilcox beat his personal record of five minutes on the mile run with a time of 4:53.

Also this year was the Harding Relay when seniors Willie Matthews, Jeremy Merriweather, and Gerren Harrison beat the triple jump relay record of 120 by five points, making the new record 125.

Even in track, a sport that revolves around each person individually, the seniors have been able to help the underclassmen improve.

“The seniors we have now have shown leadership through event training and competitions,” McDaniel said. “They have shown the underclassmen what it takes to compete at the highest [level].”

Support comes from all directions as the team moves forward towards the state competition.