Following the final whistle of the quarterfinal playoff loss to Deerfield, the West Campus locker room was dead silent. Hearing the visiting team entering their locker room yelling in celebration crushed my whole team, especially the seniors.

Personally, the only thought that was present in my mind for the next few hours after the game was that it’s over. And it’s still very difficult to comprehend weeks later.

However, after reflecting a bit, I now realize my four years as part of the football program was hands down the most enjoyable and rewarding experiences that I’ve ever had in my life.

The Scout football program is an especially unique culture. The entire coaching staff cares far more about how you grow as a person than as an athlete or football player. I am extremely grateful for that.

They taught us countless life skills, such as the correct way to talk to adults, how to sell something to strangers, how to battle through adversity, and so much more.

As I look back on my football career, some of my favorite memories didn’t even take place on the field. Some include “trivia night” at our annual UW-Parkside trip, or the makeshift slip-n-slide we had on the final day of July camp freshman year. I’ll remember the little things we did as a team more than anything, alongside of course the couple huge wins I got to experience.

While I will sadly never get the opportunity to run out of the tunnel in front of a packed Scout Nation on a Friday night again, I am incredibly grateful and forever indebted to the football program for what I was able to learn from it over my four years of high school.

Thank you, football, for everything.