VHS football punts into success

By Meah McInerney, Reporter

With a 6-3 record this season, the VHS football team has shown massive improvement since last season. After the loss of their beloved coach, Clay Eastly last year the team has shown they can power through.

With the new season the team definitely showed improvement since last season.

“There have definitely been a lot of physical obstacles and just mentally because our head coach died and that was really tough on the team. But I think that it’s something that just made our team a lot closer than we were last year because now it seems like we’re playing for a cause instead, and we have a lot more of a purpose,” senior running back and defensive back Oskar Weiss said.

Despite their grief, the Pirates have welcomed their new coach Manu Samanna-Spagnoli, a 2004 VHS graduate and former player for the Pirates, who took over as head coach after the tragic loss of Eastly last March.

“Having played here and graduated in 2004, then coached for a few years, I know the program well. However, having coached in the Metro league as well, I also bring a different perspective to the program,” Spagnoli said.

The Pirates have embraced Spagnoli as he brings new ideas and a new way of coaching to the team.

“Our new coach brings new ideas and priorities to the team that they might not have had before and also a clear goal of wanting to make playoffs this year [which] gave us something to aim for,” senior running back and linebacker Ben Larson said.

Not only has Spagnoli altered the team environment, but upperclassmen have also been finding a deeper camaraderie amongst each other which has changed the atmosphere and energy on the field.

“The team’s juniors and seniors have bonded and are working as one unit, and are continuing to succeed [because of it],” Spangnoli said.

With a big turnout of players this year, coach Manu definitely has his hands full. Bring in extra assistant coaches such as Jason Butler, Simon Perrin, and Casey Rose.

“The main difference [this year] is player turnout. [There are] lots of upperclassmen that haven’t played before,” Larson said.

After having some close scoring games earlier in the season, the team has shown that they can bounce back and come out with a win.

“The big difference personally is the team’s ability to persevere when we are losing during most games,” senior quarterback Will Weber said.

After winning six out of the nine games this season, the team is happy with their performance and are looking forward to building on their success next year.

“It’s really great. To be honest, we haven’t been doing this well in forever, and it’s amazing. It’s just a great feeling,” Phoenix Moore, sophomore offensive line and defensive lineman said.