By: Meghan Kolcum and Forest Langhorne
As the fall season dwindles down, the football season comes to a close. Participating in one of the most brutal and intense sports, football players must show intense determination out on the field in order to be the strongest team. The intensity of football games brings all of the Tusky Terror fans closer together. The long training hours over the summer have helped create an incredible season full of passionate fans and an intense team.
Tuscarora started off the season playing against Millbrook High School for the second time in our history, soundly beating them 41-21 for a solid start to the season.
Throughout the rest of the season, the competition was vigorous and the teams were courageous. Everyone wanted to win. One of the season’s highlights was the County game. The football team went out to County and brought down the Raiders with a score of 21-7. Crushing the Raiders on their own home turf was a night to remember. The Tusky Terror was decked out in their Crush County t-shirts and black. They looked like warriors and proved themselves as such. Tuscarora’s undefeated record took a hit when we played Briar Woods the next week at home, losing 35-7, but the Tusky Terror brought the heat, definitively beating the Briar Woods student section in a spirit battle second only to the County game. During homecoming week when the Huskies defeated Dominion with a high score of 40-26, this allowed for the drastic take-off to a fantastic homecoming dance and the great final end of a sensational homecoming week. The homecoming game signaled another golden winning streak by Tuscarora, which included a game against Heritage at Heritage and went all the way through our first playoff game against Millbrook. For the second time in the season, we defeated Millbrook 42-28 to advance to the regional semifinals against Loudoun County at home. In a huge blow to the team and the school, County defeated us 30-21.
This surprise loss by Tuscarora against Loudoun County ended the playoff season for Tuscarora football. Going into the game, Tuscarora was one of the top ranked teams in the state, and losing the game represented a major upset in the state playoffs. Due to the rivalry between Tuscarora and Loudoun County, this game also had special meaning for many of Tuscaroras students. However, Tuscarora will play Loudoun County in our other standout sport, soccer, and will probably turn in more satisfying results, which will hopefully take the sting off the painful loss that this was to Tuscarora.
With the 2012 season now over, students are now looking forwards to next season. With the season out and about, junior Austin Cromwell was injured by a helmet to the knee at the first game against Millbrook game, sending him out for the rest of the season. “My goal for next year is to start and make it through the whole season,” says Cromwell.“The intensity out on the field is so powerful; you can see everyone and feel what the players are feeling. It is one of the best feelings in the whole world,” says trainer Jackie Kuzma.
For the rising freshmen who are interested in football, they should know that it’s not going to be easy. “The workouts were not that difficult, but for any of the upcoming freshmen or underclassmen interested in joining, I would recommend that they start lifting as soon as possible. You don’t want to come into the season out of shape,” advises Cromwell. “The qualities that make up a football player include toughness, discipline, dedication, and confidence,” says Cromwell.
