When you think about the game of football, what comes to your mind? Is it the Friday night-lights? The incredible hits which spur the crowd to join in the fun? Probably the least common of all, is the hours and hours outside of the game that the teammates dedicate to practice; in other words, the Grind.

So what is the “football grind?” Security guard and former football player Kenny Hueber said, “The football grind is staying healthy over a number of games from practice, to film, to lifting weights,” the football team puts in hours of work which helped lead the boys to state.  With the season record of 11-2 these boys know what it takes to win.

The players explained what their five-day a week practices consists of. They work out during the day then have film with devotion from 3:15-4:00, after that they practice until 6:30,  after all that they get a nice ice bath.

We asked individual players on the football team how they get hyped for a game. The majority of players said that listening to music helps them get into the zone.

“I get my mind focused on the game and keep the phrase We Will Win in my mind,” said AJ Scott.  Some players have unusual routines before playing a game. “I take a lot of pre-workout to get hyped, then bang my head against my locker,” said Vinny DeGeorge. Trevor Driscoll, another varsity player prepares in almost the opposite way as DeGeorge. “I usually fall asleep before a game, I get pretty tired,” said Driscoll.

Faith Lutheran’s champion football coach, Vernon Fox, said, “I treat it like I’m a player, one thing that is kind of funny that most people don’t know about me is that even in the NFL before a game there are two people I always have to pray with, that is my wife and my mother, I call them individually, no matter if its two-minuets before kick-off or on the field.”