As Waterford High prepares for the next two months of action-packed school spirit, no one is more excited than the Lancer football team—and most of all, their captain and starting quarterback, Senior Jax Higgins.
Jax, who adjusted to the quarterback position during his sophomore year, says that this football season has brought his team a new sense of motivation that hasn’t been there in past seasons. “I was a captain last year, too. There were a lot of captains, and it just didn’t work as well. We weren’t meshing, the energy wasn’t there in practice, and we were going through the motions.”
“This year, it’s just different. We feel the atmosphere in the air, and it’s just different. And, that’s the expectation, to make States and go far.”
Summer conditioning was an asset for the team to build up the energy they needed for the regular season. This year, players were allowed to use a ball and get a jump start on learning plays and fundamentals early so that the regular season could focus on perfecting those skills. “It was just really nice to get that out of the way early instead of working on it mid-August and being stuck.”
Jax believes that his best quality as a captain is the energy and fire he brings to the team. His skills are a tool for the Lancers: Jax has been actively seeking out opportunities to be recruited in college. “I want to play at the next level, and I know what I need to do to get there. And it starts in the off-season and it starts week one against Foran.”
According to Jax, the players to watch this season include Parker Spencer, Brady Sutman, Gabe VanOverloop, Avery Bonewicz, and captain Porter Watson; on the offensive line, AK Wilson, Denatto Barnhill, and captain Braeden Sollima; first-year player Gabe Lombardi, and the returning Cole Baumgartner. “Also, new guys coming out. Young guys stepping up. We got a lot of key players this year.”
The buildup to the football team’s first game of the season was intense, as Foran is a state-ranked team. “They [Foran] think ECC’s a joke. But we’re the underdogs going to that game. It’s highly built up.” The Lancers were able to pull away from the match with a 28-27 win.
This year, Jax will co-captain with Seniors Braeden Sollima and Porter Watson and expects Senior Brady Sutman to soon become a leader of the team, as well. The four boys have played together since freshman year and have the chemistry it takes to lead the Lancers through the season ahead. “It’s kind of cool to be best friends with your boys, and also them being captains.”
The team didn’t have captains during Jax’s sophomore year, and he felt as though he lacked an older role model to look up to during the football season. “I want to be that guy for the younger guys to look up to. And I just want to set that expectation for captains in the future . . . their voice is heard more than the coach’s to certain people.”
Jax noted, “I want to set an expectation of what a captain should look like.” He aims to be “a leader on and off the field” and to “set expectations for the guys and follow through with those expectations.”
Jax is confident that his team will make playoffs this season. “Those aren’t our hopes, that’s our expectation. We are going to have a winning season, we are going to make States, and we have all the components to do so.”
Jax’s hopes for the team go beyond just making playoffs. Changing Waterford football’s reputation is a key motivator for him: “Sure, everybody thinks we’ve been terrible for the past decade, whatever. But we want to change that, and it starts here, and it starts now.”
Coming off of their most recent 20-0 win on the road against Bacon Academy on Saturday, the team is more prepared than ever. The only thing left is for their student section to be as prepared as they are and come out fired up. “The team has the energy, so we need Lancer Nation to have the energy.”
Lancers, you know what to do. “Let’s get that Lancer Nation going. Let’s get a sea out there. And I want to see the bleachers overflowing with people.”
