Lions look to maintain dominance
March 18, 2021
The shortened 2021 season is already halfway over, and the Lions are thriving. After 15 months of not stepping on the field, the team is taking advantage of their opportunity to finally play. In the season opener, the Lions rolled past Charlottesville 49-0. The next week, they came back after halftime to take down the Orange County Hornets 44-20. Most recently, Louisa defeated Monticello 35-7. Only three games remain in the regular season, and the Lions look to maintain their dominance of the Jefferson District, as well as make the playoffs once again.
Players are ecstatic to be back on the field after not playing in the fall.
“It feels great finally being able to play again after 15 months,” Sophomore Landon Wilson said.
His teammate, Junior Stephen Dean, agreed, “It feels very exciting. I’m very happy to be back.”
Wilson and Dean, along with the rest of the team, are looking to continue to work hard and achieve greatness throughout the remainder of the season.
“I’m looking forward to every Friday and playing every week. I think we’re going to continue to do good. We’re a young team, but we’re learning more every week and we’re going to continue to get better,” Wilson said.
Going into this shortened season, the Lions had lost 22 seniors that played on last year’s team. Because of this major roster change, multiple players that either didn’t play too many snaps last year or weren’t on the varsity team will have to step into larger roles this season. Most of these players are underclassmen, considering there are only nine seniors on the current roster. Wilson and Dean both agreed that along with themselves, Kalup Shelton, Logan McGhee, Jordan Smith, Jacob Bundrick, Troy Fischer, Qwenton Spellman, and Eli Brooks are some of the players playing a larger role on the field this year.
Due to the pandemic, The Jungle won’t have quite the same atmosphere as years prior, but games will continue to be streamed on both the NFHS and YouTube, providing fans with ways to keep up with the team.
