The William Jewell College football team recently ended their 2016 season, finishing 1-9. Although the team did not find much success throughout the season, the team finished strong with a dominant 48-17 win over Lincoln University of Missouri.
Despite winning just one game, the team played hard and the win to end the season will provide the WJC football program with some necessary confidence and momentum.
Sophomore recreation and sport major Isaac Dozier said, “The season we had definitely is not one to brag about, but I am very proud of the way our team fought through from beginning to end. It was great to end the season on a win. This way we can carry the momentum over into the next season.”
Senior religion major Darrick Strzelecki shared similar thoughts, “The season was very difficult because losing is never fun, but finishing the season off with a win was huge for this program and for the seniors as well.”
The team faced a lot of problems this year, including getting all phases on the same page.
“The biggest problems we faced this year was getting the whole team on the same page so that the offense, defense and special teams could all be in sync with one another,” said Dozier, “Games where the defense would play good, the offense would not, and in games where the offense played well the defense did not.”
Injuries were also a major factor during the season.
“We had so many injuries all the way throughout, so were never completely at full strength,” said Strzelecki, “We had to move guys around and trust that they would perform to the best of their abilities in those positions.”
If nothing else, the season provided the team with some perspective, some experience for the future, and an opportunity to play the game they love.
“Over the course of the season our team just learned to have fun and enjoy the time we spent,” said Dozier, “It makes the games much easier when you don’t stress about failing and just focus on having fun. We were reminded that not everyone still gets the opportunity to play football like we do and we had to make the most of the time we had left because you never know what game will be your last.”
“The team as a whole found out exactly what we were made of,” said Strzelecki, “We lost week after week but we never gave up or changed the way we prepared and practiced everyday. We always played hard, studied film and lifted hard so we could best be prepared for each game.”
Jewell will look to learn from this season, and will begin to prepare for next season.