After two long years without a win, the Green Wave Football team finally broke their losing streak with a thrilling 16-13 victory against Saint Walter Christian. With emotions throughout the stands, teammates and seniors who have been there since their last winning game marked a new chapter for them.
We asked three of the St. Edward students who have been playing since their last win freshman year five questions about how they felt about finally winning their senior year after two seasons of losses.
We started talking to senior Lucas Buckardt. When asked what motivated him to always show up, he replied with, “The friendly competition in practice is what made me want to show up.” We also asked him how it felt ringing the bell after 2 years; he told us it felt nice, and “ I am glad I got to do it one more time for my senior year.”
We also spoke to Luciano Mauro, who has played football as long as he remembers. As a little kid, it has been part of who he is now and taught him so many lessons playing football, We asked him what motivated him to keep showing up. He replied with “Honestly, my brothers in the field. Seeing guys smaller than me with less experience pushed me to show up for them every day. Plus I truly love the sport, and the hunger to get better never went away.” We asked how did it felt ringing the bell for the second time in his high school career, and he said all the hard work and passion throughout the years are shown through the bell. “Ringing it for my senior year was amazing!”
To wrap up our interviews we asked Zach Sauceda who has been a part of the team for four years like his other two teammates. Zach reflected on his journey, the team’s growth, and what it meant to earn that long waiting victory. He felt amazing at the end when he realized he was the one who scored the 16 points for his team, but he would not care if he did not score at all; it was a team effort, and he could not have done it without the guys blocking for him.
One thing the team never did was give up. They showed up to practice with a positive attitude and worked hard. Through their bruises, mistakes, and doubt, they kept fighting not only for a win, but they fought for each other. Every game the team lost, they learned something and worked even harder to reach their goal. In every game or practice they had motivation, Zack Sauceda said, “My family was definitely my biggest motivation. They always supported me and had my back even when things got tough. My biggest thing was that I always wanted to make them proud, so that’s definitely why I kept showing up.” The players motivated each other and the St. Edward community was a big part also, cheering the boys on every game, being supportive on getting a win, and they did! When that buzzer went off with the score being 16 to 13, tears fell for joy because they put their blood, sweat, and tears on the field to get that win.
