McNicholas kicks off football season with winning record

By Trey Ackel

With a 6-point victory over Turpin, a 17-point victory over Roger Bacon, and a 24-point shut out against Taft, McNicholas is off to a 3-1 record. Despite a 49-point deficit in their game against Anderson on Sept. 3, the Varsity Rocket Football team still feels confident in its ability to win future games.

McNicholas’s head football coach Mike Orlando credits the early season win against Turpin to the memory of last year’s loss. “[We] wanted to get a bad taste out of our mouth, [and we were] better that night,” he said. McNick had a 4-6 record last season.

McNicholas was unable to win the King of the Hill title this year, but they are still competing for the GCL title. Offensive line coach Jeff Mulvey didn’t think the loss to Anderson was something to worry about when aiming for the GCL title. “[A loss is] only truly a loss if we don’t learn anything from it,” he said. He added that being in the GCL means they have “bigger fish to fry.”

After McNicholas’s first four games, the team has six injured, however, senior quarterback Cole Burdick predicted

that the team’s reserve players would step up and bring the win against Roger Bacon, their first GCL competitor.

“[We’re] going in a little dinged up… [but] people are waiting to jump in,” Mulvey said. He agreed that Roger Bacon could be a difficult game, pointing out that it was their homecoming game and that they would be “salty and pumped up” after a loss by only three points last year. However, the Rockets beat Bacon 31-14 on Sept. 15.

Orlando said that no matter a game’s outcome, McNicholas will not be “using injuries as an excuse.” He said that even if the team wins, they cannot afford to get complacent, but need to celebrate the win and move forward.

After two seasons without winning records, Orlando is optimistic about this season. “Every year is a new year,” he said.