Cholla Charger Network

By Zevida Jose

This game is always highly anticipated by everyone at Cholla and Pueblo, but unfortunately this year, we lost to our rival school on Friday, September 13th with a score of 8-40. Still, a good job to all of the players and coaches. Keep doing your best, and good luck in future games! 

First, we heard from our football coach, Paul Tripp, about his first season coaching Cholla’s Football. “There have been highs and lows, but overall, I believe the boys are buying into all that we are teaching and are also changing and believing in the culture,” he said. His goals for this season are “to be competitive and to teach the boys more than just football.” When asked about what he plans on seeing improved, he said, “competitiveness.” Lastly, he plans on taking a week off to regroup himself and then getting into the weight room and on the field with the boys after the season. 

Then, we heard from some of the football players about their thoughts on the game and personal life. To begin with, we interviewed Senior Daniel Velasquez, who plays as a wide receiver and defensive back. “Yes, I did feel pressure going against our rivals,” Daniel said. Daniel said what he thinks needs to be improved “keeping our heads up and not getting down so easily after one bad play.”

Daniel gave his thought to knowing this is his last high school football season “Kind of exciting, but at the same time bittersweet because we finally have a good head coach, and I only get one year with him,” Daniel replied. Lastly, Daniel mentioned, “After the season, I plan on looking forward to going to college.”

Next, senior defensive end Jerry Miller expressed his excitement for the rivalry game. When asked about what’s the best part about being on the football team, Jerry said the new experiences. However, he also acknowledged the challenges of balancing football and school. Looking ahead, Jerry mentioned his intention to shift his focus to academics after the football season.

The last player I interviewed was Junior Raymond Satathite, who plays as a wide receiver, quarterback, and safety. “During the game, I was hoping our team would be able to get their heads together and make some type of comeback,” Raymond said. “The energy on the field. At the beginning of the game, it was very energetic, everyone was excited to play, but as the game went on, everyone kind of just put their heads down and wanted the game to be over,” “My favorite part before the game was waving the flag, and after the game, just getting done with it.” Lastly, Raymond said, “I plan on continuing to play, and since I have another year left, I hope to go somewhere and go to college.”