Recently, I had the opportunity to interview some seniors on THE CCS football team, Drew Bond and Connor Tyler. As we walked ar
ound campus to find a spot to sit and chat, I got to know a lot more about the team, and Connor told me all about the new coaching staff, and their support for the whole team.
He said, “Last year, and years prior, the players would just pass the ball to the same person, and the plays were just predictable.” He also went on to say how
the more seniors there were this year. “Last year there were like 6 seniors.”
Drew chimed in and added, “There was double that amount of seniors this year, maybe even more. Fifteen or sixteen at least.”
More seniors this year was really good for the team and the leadership was up ten fold. “Last year's seniors were a little more self centered, and this year was much more into leading,” Connor added. In addition to the value of so many seniors, they added that the coaching staff brought in more plays.
As we moved on to the next question, Coach Wharton popped in to warn us about MS baseball, so we went to a new seat.
Connor says his hope for next year's seniors is that they would leave a good imprint on this school and pave a new path for all of us to walk down. “This year's seniors are wanting to go to state. This year’s and next year’s seniors will be selfless, and they will tie us back to being stronger together.”
I asked Drew and Connor about the juniors they believe will be the new leaders of next year's team. They had to say this about one teammate in particular, Jermaine Stinson. “When we run, he is the first one out there. When we run for discipline, he is the first one out there,” Drew said of the unsung hero. Later he added, “When you seem defeated, he’ll scream in your face DON’T QUIT DON’T QUIT!!!” Definitely making you feel more motivated and ready for more.
Connor told me he’d recommend Zion Fleming. “He made a lot of big steps. Beginning of the year, he’d goof off and alway rotate in,” but when Grayson Officer got injured, Zion stepped up.
Then of course they added Boo Carter. “That’s who everyone will look up to. They talk to them everyday about his new role in leadership and the senior class is always on him about him being a role model, and how he’s really grown a lot.”
Connor says one of his most favorite moments from this season involved Zion Fleming. "One of the other team's players pushed him down to the ground, and got a flag called out on the opposing team. I was happy to see Zion not swing back because if it was a few weeks ago I knew he would’ve.”
When I got done with that question, I asked about the underrated gems on the team. “Who are some of the most valuable players on the team that don’t get the hype?” Conner addressed the O-line. Drew added to that by saying, “The O-line and D-line are the strength of the team.” They both said that those two lines are for sure the heartbeat of the team.
No matter the great success the team has had this year, that does not take away from weaknesses in the team. When asked about what weaknesses the team has and how they could possibly be fixed, Drew replied by saying, "A lack of community." Connor followed by saying, "Selfishness. We have all of the talent to go wherever we want to go, but we gotta work on that for sure.”
As we entered into our last few moments together, I was proud to finally be more familiar with this year's CCS football team and the seniors that have played a big part in the success of the team. I finished with this question: What else do you think people should know about this season? Drew’s final insight about senior leadership this season was that ultimately seniors were unsatisfied with seasons past. “We don't care if we’ve blown out 5 teams in a row. We want to absolutely do that every game until we have a ring on our finger.” After that, I went to ask Conner if he had anything to add to what Drew was saying, and he said, “The support from the fans has been great this year, and CCS really made a lot of strides to getting more people and families to the games, definitely making it more fun for the fans who want to support the team.”
I ended by asking both of them if they had anything else to say and the only thing left that they thought of was to remind everyone to "Bolt Up!"