Varsity Insider: Aiming for No. 1
Editor's Note: Sean Cultrera is a senior at Souhegan High School and a two-way tackle on the SHS football team. His Varsity Insider column will appear each week throughout the season.
The regular season is now winding down in New Hampshire, and we have two games left before the playoffs begin. Currently, my Souhegan team has the inside track for the No. 1 seed in the Division III playoffs, but we have a big game coming up.
This Friday is Senior Night at the Jungle, and playoff hopeful Con-Val is stopping by. We've already lost one more game than we planned on losing this season, and we'd all hate to let this one slip away as well. However, we've been working diligently all week to prevent another letdown. This is a team, after all, that has beaten Milford, a possible No. 2 seed if we were to win out.
From film study, it is possible to see what makes this week's opponent a worthy one. Converted running back Barry Powers is a big, strong kid with plenty of speed and their line plays tenaciously up front. This is a game that will be won in the trenches, and my linemates and I are fully ready for this.
I have to give the coaches and team credit for really buckling down this week in practice and working hard without any lapses in attention or effort. We're coming out still ticked still over the loss to Milford, and we'd love to bury a team that has beaten Milford.
With a victory on Friday, all we have to do is beat a rebuilding John Stark program the following week to maintain our No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout playoffs. However, with a loss we could slip out of the No. 1 seed, so we have plenty of motivation besides Senior Night to win this football game.
It should definitely be a physical and hard-fought game played the right way, and I personally can't help but look forward to it. With my injury that forced me to sit out the Milford game nearly completely healed, I'm feeling great as well.
Of course, with this being my class' Senior Night, there's a real sense of sadness about the night as well. Most of us have been playing together since Pop Warner. The thought of this being our last regular-season home game ever in high school just serves to remind us just how little time there is left in our high school careers. Some of us will play in college, and it does look like I will be one of those lucky few, but it will never match up to playing football for your senior year with your lifelong friends and teammates.
When the season is over I know that I at least will miss playing with all of the guys in front of our friends and families at the Jungle. It's a type of camaraderie that is hard to top short of fighting for your lives in a war abroad. From ragging on each other playfully in the locker room, to helping each other up after a tough play, to holding up a championship trophy last year, there are many cherished memories of this team I will hold forever. However, we can't all just be sad as there is still more football to be played!
Let this just serve as extra motivation for us to bring it Friday night, the next week, and into the playoffs. Our opponents will be ready, thus so shall we.
