As a first year coach at Peirce I was uncertain what the team would be able to accomplish on the field. Last year's team did not make the playoffs so I knew we had our work cut out for us. We finished the regular season with a 3-3 record, defeating Brenneman, CMSA and Blaine while losing to Goudy, Hamilton and Uplift. I knew our record did not reflect how hard these boys had worked all year. We had lost those three games on the last play of each game and any of the three could have gone either way.
The playoffs proved that we were a good team. We defeated Lagassiz 28-8 and then defeated Stockton 20-12 to reach the semi-finals. In a rematch with Goudy we were defeated 24-12. It was a hard fought game in tough conditions that Goudy ended up putting away in the second half after leading only 6-0 at halftime.
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| Aureliano Macedo catches a TD on our lineman pass!! |
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| A tough Panthers defense readies for action |
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| Defense ready to make a stand |
I learned so much as a coach and mentor as well. I hope to improve as a teacher and prepare them for life on and off the field.
While other teams may have been faster and were certainly bigger, we played with a ton of heart and played our game. It may sound cliche, but it is the truth. The boys worked hard in practice, helped each other out, and were mentioned numerous times for having upstanding sportsmanship.
I will miss the nine graduating 8th graders next year. These boys will have success at the next level playing football. They are: Elvis Martinez, Luis Correa, Marc Macedo, Aurelliano Macedo, Jonathan Minaey, Reno Delaflor, Christian Jones, Fernando Reyna and Keon Coleman.
