Roll Saders: Read all about the anticipated new football season
Casey Burton, Sports Editor
North Greenville University’s football season began with a bang last week at Charleston Southern University (CSU). The season’s kick-off game may not have ended the way people expected, but it instilled hope to the community of NGU for a highly successful season.
Leading up to the first game was the overflowing support by the entire student body. The university encouraged everyone to go attend the game at CSU. NGU even provided transportation, tickets and food to students who were willing to attend. So despite being three hours from NGU’s campus, the crusaders made sure to show out and fill the stands.
The game started strong with NGU quickly in the lead during the first quarter. They stayed in the lead the remainder of the game until the end. During the fourth quarter, CSU scored, putting them in a three-point lead. With only eight seconds left of the game, NGU managed to be only a few feet away from scoring… until they received a “10-second penalty”. And that was the anticlimactic end to the game.
Although the ending wasn’t ideal; the players still took home a big lesson from the game. The lesson was: with less penalties, winning is very possible this year. This instills hope and excitement which is good after a first game of the season.
Lewis McBeth, NGU Senior football player said, “I like our team way better than last year, we have basically a whole new coaching staff and everyone plays hard all the time. If we didn’t have as many mistakes at the game, we would’ve won, so I think it’s going to be a pretty good season.”
After talking to McBeth about the team and how he thinks the season will play out, he explained the difference between last year and this year. You would think the biggest difference would be the difference in players; when seniors leave, and freshman come in. This year there are quite a few new players in the lineup. Although, the biggest difference the players feel is the coaching.
Erik Garret, another NGU senior football player said, “We have a pretty good bit of new guys on the team, but the big difference is the coaches. The coaching is just better honestly.”
The head coach, Jeff Farrington is well known for his leadership and for being highly respected amongst the team. The players value him for his honesty and for respecting the players in return.
The team is now focused on fixing any issues they encountered at CSU. For example, the penalties that took place that costed them the win. The team is confident that once they figure out those kinks, the team will have winning season.
This season is anticipated to be a successful and memorable one. Along with the strong sense of school spirit, new coaching staff, and a hopeful ending to the first game, the players are excited for the hopeful season ahead.
