Friday Night Lights “Fall” upon De Soto at Fall Fest
Senior linebacker Max Garrett lines up before the snap.
Fall sports started with a bang on Aug. 25 at the De Soto High School Stadium with De Soto High School’s first ever Fall Fest. Cross country, boys’ soccer, volleyball and girls’ tennis all hosted activities throughout the evening, and the event culminated in the annual Green versus White Football scrimmage.
In this annual intrasquad game, freshman, junior varsity, and varsity teams all get their chance to play under the lights in front of a roaring student section and the DHS Band.
Head coach Brian King appreciated the hustle that he witnessed from his players in the scrimmage. In a game that could have been a comfortable walkthrough for the team, he saw anything but.
“I just want to see who’s competing. When the bullets start flying, when there’s adversity, I want to see how people react, see who our playmakers are and who our physical kids are going to be,” King said. “We saw that on both sides tonight. Our defense put it on us early, and then our offense responded late.”
This is the team’s first time in a game setting this year after two weeks of official practice and a dedicated summer of work.
“We’ve had an accountable group. If you know our juniors and seniors, they are kids who … work hard, and do things right on and off the field,” King said. “They were here all summer and they were good leaders for freshmen and sophomores. They’ve all worked really hard and had a really sharp summer.”
Despite winning the Frontier League last, the Wildcats did not advance in the playoffs, but the team is determined on changing that.
“[Our team mentality has been] getting deeper into the playoffs. We don’t want to get stopped like we did last year in the first round. We really want to go deep,” said junior fullback Connor Brady.
However, De Soto’s prominence within the Frontier League will put a target on their backs from the very beginning of the season for other teams in the league.
“We’ll get everybody’s best game,” King said. “We’re confident, but we know we have to improve every week.”
The football team begins its season on Sept. 1 at Ottawa High School as they take on the Cyclones.
Meet Sam Hubert. Sam has been a member of the Green Pride for 3 years and is excited to take the helm of the newspaper as an Editor-in-Chief this year....
