So today I figured I’d dig into the Strafford High School football roster to spot this season’s standout players. Started by grabbing my laptop and hitting up the school’s athletics page around breakfast time. Man, their website’s clunky as heck – took me like 20 minutes just to find the dang roster PDF.
First things first: I printed that sucker out and spread it across my kitchen table. Coffee in hand, I circled all the seniors – gotta see who’s got experience, right? Then I flipped through last year’s local newspaper clippings looking for names that popped up in stats. Found this one kid, Jacob Miller, mentioned three times for quarterback sacks.
Tracking Down Game Footage
Next step was hunting down recent game videos. Went straight to YouTube and searched “Strafford High vs. Rogersville” since they played last Friday. Quality was garbage – shaky phone camera behind bleachers – but I spotted #24 doing insane spins through defenders. Paused, zoomed, squinted… yep, roster says that’s Marcus Chen. Kid moves like grease lightning!
Called up my buddy who coaches junior league. Asked straight up: “Who’s making teachers high-five in hallways?” He rattled off two names:
- Tyler Boone (running back) – apparently broke three tackles in preseason scrimmage
- Sarah Kwan (kicker) – nailed a 40-yard field goal during practice
Checked Sarah’s Instagram later – sure enough, she’d posted a video of that kick with #boom.
The Aha Moment
Yesterday I hauled myself to their 4pm practice. Stood freezing near the chain-link fence watching drills. Marcus? Dude caught every single pass thrown sideways. Tyler? Lowered his shoulder and plowed through tackling dummies like tissue paper. Coach blew his whistle pointing at them constantly – obvious sign they’re core players.
Wrapped it up by comparing all notes:
- Veteran leadership: Jacob anchoring defense
- Breakout speed: Marcus turning short passes into touchdowns
- Ground game: Tyler trucking opponents
- Secret weapon: Sarah booting long field goals
Left field thinking “these four’ll carry the team” as sunset turned everything orange. Gotta update my blog now – fingers still numb from scribbling in that wind!