By: Austin Hanson
With the new school year well upon us, fall sports here at EMHS have long been underway, with some teams approaching the postseason and setting their eyes on the playoffs. EMHS teams have had to adjust to the challenges that come with a new season including loss of seniors, injuries, and tougher schedules. These are all challenges which are common to high school sports; however, something unique to EMHS this year, that will benefit every sports team, is the merger between Youngsville and Eisenhower. New teammates and faces are sure to uplift both the community and the sports teams that they support.
Volleyball ended the regular season with a strong 11-5 record and is looking to stay hot as they approach the postseason. The Squire interviewed Senior Libero, Lainey Font, and asked her a few questions about how she feels the season is going. When asked about some of the challenges that come with being the Libero, Font replied with, “It’s definitely challenging, but I love playing that role and getting to lead the team from that position.” The team has worked hard to overcome these challenges, as she explained, “We all just have to trust each other in order to rally. Taking a timeout and making quick adjustments also helps.” As the playoffs approach for the Lady Knights, The Squire also inquired about how playoff contention is looking, Font said, “I think that we have won some good games against good teams that can hopefully put us in the position to play a team that we can be competitive with going into the postseason.”
Boys soccer is currently 5-8, looking to make a late season push into the playoffs. The Squire asked senior captain Derek Guiher a few questions regarding their current standings and how he feels about the team’s performance. When asked about the team’s current region standing, Guiher responded with, “I definitely feel that our current standing in the region isn’t as good as it should be, we definitely lost some games that we should have won.” Guiher also commented on the future games ahead, adding, “We have a few very winnable games coming up that we need to capitalize on in order to better our region standings and playoff hopes.” Along with fighting for a playoff spot, the Knights are also dealing with the loss of two senior captains, Casey Seymour and Logan Degnan, who contributed massively to the team. The Squire asked Guiher about how he and the team had to adjust to the loss. Guiher explained how hard it is to lose two important seniors. However, he also added, “Many plyers have stepped up this year to fill those spots left behind.”
Switching to girls soccer, they are currently 4-10, hoping to sneak into playoff contention and end the season on a good note. The Squire asked senior captain Shayleigh Albaugh some questions regarding how she feels the season has gone so far. When asked about whether she feels their record is a good reflection of the team’s performance this year, she responded with, “I don’t feel it’s a good reflection, as we have had many close games that have never ended in our favor.” Albaugh also added details on how they prepare as a team before the game starts, explaining, “We go through our normal pre-game warm up to get us in the zone. After that we usually get in a player circle and remind each other that were in this together.” Also, something that Albaugh does herself is look at the previous games that their upcoming opponent has played and compare them to the score of when they played that team.
Looking at football, the Knights are currently 5-2 looking to finish the season staying hot and make a strong impression in the district playoffs. Like both soccer teams, football is also looking for people to step up and fill empty positions left behind by seniors. The Squire asked senior captain, and quarterback of the team, Caleb Jakubzack a few questions regarding how the season is currently going. When asked about how they responded to an opening loss Jakubzack replied with, “We as a team were able to bounce back and go on a winning streak because we learned that we have to play a disciplined game all the way through.” He also shared a lesson which they learned through that loss, saying, “We learned that games are won during the week and not on Friday.” With the addition of Youngsville, the Knights have moved up to the 2A division, meaning that they will play tougher and bigger schools. When asked about an aspect that the team needs to improve upon to rise to the new standards, Jakubzack explained, “Working as a team in the hardest moments, in order to play good, we all need to do our jobs. Helping each other when we get into tough situations is crucial.”
The cross-country team recently had their senior night race here at EMHS. They also recently ran at the McQuaid invitational with some runners looking to make a final push and qualify for the state meet. The Squire asked Laney Belcher a few questions about how the season is going, along with some of the goals that she has for herself. When asked about how the season is currently going, Belcher responded with, “The team has been doing pretty great so far. We have all been running great times and improving with every race.” When asked about the district meet, she explained, “Only the top seven from boys and girls qualify for Districts, and, since both our teams only have seven, we will all be competing at districts to try to qualify for states.” The district meet will be on October 25, in Titusville. Belcher also talked about some of the personal goals she has, saying, “I hope to improve on my race times as the season goes on, I’m still learning a lot, but I have been picking up quickly on how to run good races and compete in big invitationals.”
The Squire thanks Font, Guiher, Albaugh, Jakubzack, and Belcher for their time and answers and wishes them the best of luck throughout the rest of the season. Show your support for Eisenhower and its sports teams by cheering them on as they each approach the end of the regular season and the beginning of the postseason!
The Squire 