Seniors reflect on close of football season

Friday’s victory on the road over Philomath closed the football season for the the Outlaws. It was the last game for the seniors, several of whom shared comments with The Nugget about team, family, and the hard work that allows them to play every Friday night.

First-year player Dillon Tucker said, “There really are no words. I never knew the family that was in football, and now that I’m here I regret not playing the last three years.”

Tucker is a force on both sides of the ball and when asked about the hits he took, Dillon said, “The hits were a shock! I knew these guys could hit, but sometimes it took me by surprise, but then when you finally get that first hit on someone it feels like nothing else.”

Nate Weber commented on his 20-yard touchdown.

“It felt good, and the whole team celebrated afterward,” said Weber. “Football is a community that’s different than any other sport I play. It’s a family, it’s not really a team. Scoring the touchdown didn’t give me as much adrenaline as looking up and seeing everyone rushing over. It’s not one person scoring, it’s the whole team scoring and that made it much different than anything I’ve ever done.”

Hayden Sharp wrapped up his fourth year on the varsity squad.

“It’s unreal that I’m done with four years of playing football,” he said. “I’m proud of everyone and that they fought hard. People might look at the losing season and think we might not be as good, but we all put our work in and did what we needed to do. I’m really proud of the team.”

Assistant Coach Ken Reuttgers has seen a lot of kids come and go through the program in his many years of helping coach the Outlaws and commented on this year’s crew.

“Most of the year these kids played above their heads because they were scrappy,” said Reuttgers. “That’s kind of the theme we took in the last half of the season, scrappy. We may not be able to out-athletic them, or out-lift them in the weight room, but we’re going to out-scrap them, and we were scrappy. We were scrappy tonight and it finally payed off for us. I think these kids came in and they’re better versions of themselves having been a part of the program this year.”