All summer long the Tenafly High School football team members have been powering through early morning practices, running routes until their feet ache, to prepare for the upcoming season. Finally, Friday night lights are back and better than ever. This past Friday, the Tigers returned to their home field, Geissinger, determined to show everyone that this season will be unlike any other.
The stands were packed, with a sea of black and orange. The crowd roared with electric energy, awaiting the first kickoff of the season. As the team ran on to the field, the student section, louder than ever, cheering, chanting, and ready for the big win. However, as the night progressed, the solid plays quickly turned into missed opportunities. At halftime the score was 10-0, and everyone was still holding out hope that the Tigers would be able to make a swift comeback. After halftime, everyone gathered back in the stands, hopeful that this lead was not detrimental and the Tigers could pull it off. However, as much as the Tigers tried to keep up with the other team, the score slowly slipped away from them, ending in a Tenafly loss. The stands slowly emptied, as the THS students and parents left disappointed. The first game win got ripped away from the team as well as their devoted crowd.
Though they ended in a loss, the Tigers learned something from this.
“This game showed us what we need to work on and now it can only get better,” quarterback Alex Kramer (’27) said. “Even though it was tough to lose, we learned many things that are going to make us improve.” This coming Friday against NVD, Kramer hopes to lead the Tigers to victory and focus on the game ahead, while putting this loss behind him and the team.
While getting ready for the next big game, the Tigers have been putting in a lot of practice, trying to fix and improve on what they did wrong last Friday.
“Since the game I, along with the rest of the team, have been taking practices way more seriously,” Giorgio Sheha (’28) said. “We have even been paying more attention to film and doing drills more intensely.” If everyone on the team has the same mindset as Sheha, then nothing is stopping them from winning the upcoming games.
As the season continues, these practices need to stay high-energy, even if the team suffers another loss. Whether learning new plays or just watching film, the team needs to take this season seriously. Sheha explained that the players’ attitude during practices directly affects how they play during the games and that, if the team continues to come to practice with a positive outlook, the rest of the season will work out in their favor.
