Varsity Insider: Highlights at the halfway point
Editor's Note: Matt Gambill is a senior at Dover High School and a wide receiver/defensive back on the DHS football team. His Varsity Insider column will appear each week throughout the season.
There are at least five more games in the journey that is my senior season. The memories made during the progression of a season are often forgotten. We remember a season by the end result. You have to stop and appreciate the memories made during such an important season.
Football is about emotion and they say people who are passionate about the game are the most emotional. I know that on Thanksgiving morning I would rather be tearing up about leaving my high school career than thinking about all the memories during the season.
Ranking my memories is not really the way I reflect on them. I am one of those people that says remember the time that this happened, but I will try and rank them as best as possible.
My best memory of this football season would probably be beating Winnacunnet in a must-win conference game, by only a point. Winning a conference game against a solid playoff contender is always big, but what made this game even more meaningful was that we were facing a potentially disastrous 0-3 start going into the meat of our conference schedule.
Next on my list is holding one of the best running backs in the state to 54 yards. Derek Furey, of Timberlane, ran for over 300 yards and five touchdowns against us last season. To be able to come back and hold him to only 54 yards is a huge accomplishment for our defense. Although that game was lost, it was still a memorable part of the season.
Also high on my list is playing Salem in the Division I vs. Division II crossover game. I played well in that game on both sides of the ball, unfortunately we lost, but as an individual in my senior season it was a plus. I hope that all seniors find time to reflect on their season and truly cherish it.
As I think about my senior season I also think about the opportunities I might have. There is a particular person I think about when it comes to options. Being 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds I hope to have a lot of opportunities playing sports at higher level. The person I am about to talk about didn't have as many options because of his size, but his athletic abilities are far beyond mine.
Tyler Long is 5-foot-9 and an earth-shaking 170 pounds. Tyler is a starting true-freshman tailback at Plymouth State University. He is the team's third leading rusher this season and I imagine Division III teams are really going to struggle with him over the next four years.
Although Tyler should probably be playing at a Division II school, he never let the opportunities he didn't have affect his views on his abilities. As a good friend and former teammate I know that PSU got a great athlete in Tyler. Look for him to be a big name in Division III football over the next four years.
