Credit to Ankita Pandurangi

The FHN varsity football team is coming into the year with losing quite a few seniors, including their whole starting offensive line. They will be looking forward to lots of new kids stepping into bigger roles found throughout their summer training.

“Summer practices really help us see who on the team is going to be reliable,” Senior Collin Conley said. “Whether it’s them just showing up every day or them being a dawg at practice.”

While the team lost a key running back in Derrick Warren, they have Conley, who rushed for over 500 yards last season, and Champ Pauley who started the season off hot but his season was cut short due to a ACL tear. On the defensive side of the ball, the team has junior Jacob Foster and senior Samuel Mahurin who were key defenders last season. Also, junior Javon Godfrey will be looking to have a breakout year as a running back since he’s really improved throughout this offseason.

“I’ve been watching Javon Godfrey this offseason, he’s been looking super explosive and has put in a ton of work in the weightroom,” Coach Brett Bevil said. “He did do some things sparingly for us last year, so I think next year is going to be a breakout year for him.”

The Knights play nine games plus a conference game at the end of the year. The biggest game of the season is the homecoming game against Timberland on Sept. 27. Another game that the team looks forward to is on October 25 against Fort Zumwalt East.

“I’m really excited about the homecoming game…because it’s on the brand new field,” Mahurin said. “These games are especially fun because everyone shows up, parents and students, and you can’t compare the atmosphere to anything else in the world.”

Last season, the team started off hot going 2-1 in the first three games. However, they weren’t able to capitalize on this start, and finished the season 3-7. One of the biggest wins they got was against rivals Howell Central 41-20. 

“I wish the whole season would have gone the same way the Central game did, it felt like the mentality was different the whole night and we just wanted it more than they did,” senior Jackson Fifer said. “Everyone played great on both sides of the ball and we just kept dominating”. 

The Knights start their season at North Point on August 30. Their first home game in the brand new stadium will be September 6, against St. Charles.