The Wildcats football team starts the 2023 season with a losing record of 1-3 with 2 away games and 2 home games.
The first game against Lincoln Way West wasn’t the team’s peak, but their attitude changed when they played home against Matea Valley, winning 15-12.
“I feel like our first game we didn’t live up to what we wanted to be” senior quarterback, Matt Leto, said.
The team believes they can have a strong season ahead of them; they’re ready to face whatever challenges.
On Sept 29 the Wildcats take on Romeoville for the first ever FNL homecoming game.
“If teams want to come in here and play well they’re going to have to deal with noise and the superfans do a great job with that,” Keane said.
Although the team does aim for wins, coaches also want to teach players new skills and strategies they can use for the rest of their life, while perfecting the plays they already know.
“It’s all about being able to continue to grow and develop and put guys in positions that they’ll be successful in,” Keane said.
As the team continues the season with many on field strengths, their great communication skills are one thing they excel in.
“Team chemistry, hyping each other up, making good plays, our strength really is the chemistry we got going on right now,” junior linebacker, Javar Jones, said.
Along with that, this is many players’ second year playing together as wildcats, which improves the bond tremendously.
“We played together last year on varsity as sophomores and just taking that on to this year makes it much better chemistry,” junior running back, Malik Jassim, said.
Like all teams, developments throughout the season are anticipated. Coaches want to enhance player’s abilities not only for their team but also so they can take these skills on to their future.
“You always see the improvement, they improve as players, but also as young men,” Hildebrand said.
