Despite dealing with excessive heat and rain, the varsity football team managed to overcome these obstacles to win their first two games of the season.
“I don’t think that negatively impacted us. Obviously that first week of the season with the extremely hot temperatures forced us to go inside, prevented us from getting outside and having normal practice,” coach Karl Odenwald said.
The first week of the season, the temperatures were extreme outside to the point where varsity as well as other sports couldn’t practice outside. This caused coaches and players to change how they normally get ready for the season.
“It was way different. It was a lot hotter, and we weren’t affected by the heat as much last year. It was a change, but I think we’re better off because it happened,” junior Everett Cui, wide receiver and safety, said.
The weather not only interrupted practice, but it also interrupted the game that was scheduled for Friday night, since it had to be moved to Saturday. Instead of dealing with the heat, the team had to deal with rain.
“Every team in the area was impacted by the heat, you know, to some degree. Some played later Friday night; some played Saturday. Obviously, we played Saturday and we felt that that was the best decision for our team,” Odenwald said.
The game on Saturday was slow paced especially due to the rain. Both teams turned the ball over a lot and the energy on the field was low. It wasn’t until the end of the 2nd quarter until either team scored. Parkway North junior Messiah Smith scored in the late 2nd quarter and put the Vikings on top.
“I think it affected our game because the delays got us a little unfocused for a while…the offense wasn’t able to throw the ball. They knew we were going to run the ball so they kind of zoned in on that. That’s why they kind of stopped us,” senior Keylan Mitchell said.
Finally in the 4th quarter, Hazelwood East scored a touchdown, but then they went for the win with a 2 point conversion. The Vikings ended up stopping them winning the game 7-6.
“I don’t think we played to our best potential because we couldn’t throw the ball through and the delay got into our heads, but we fought throughout the end,” Cui said.
The following week the Vikings played McCluer North and beat them 52-0.
“It’s easy to say that all those factors may have had some negative impact on the program, but…fortunately we were able to overcome the adversity and come over to win,” Odenwald said.
This Friday, the Vikings will be back under Friday night lights on their home field against McCluer High.
