It was a 2009 season to forget for the Polytech High School football team.
The Panthers did not win a game last year until week nine, then closed the season with a loss to finish at 1-9, 1-5. Add to that the fact that the team lost its nine games by an average of approximately 19 points, and it was quite the dismal campaign.
Things, however, can’t get much worse for Polytech this year and Head Coach Dave Eilers said he feels as if his team is on the up and up.
Eilers said the program is not really focusing on wins and losses this year, but instead wants to begin pushing things in the right direction for the future.
“I don’t know if we’ll see the results this year or even next year, but we’re building a football program here and that’s our goal,” he said. “I’d like to see success now, but that’s not the only part of what we’re doing.”
Step one of building the program toward a winning season, Eilers said, is creating a greater dedication to the team itself.
This season so far, he said the older players on the team are helping to instill some Panther pride into their younger teammates.
“If we get kids to take on that leadership role in terms of building the program and putting a lot of pride into that, coupled with the commitment and the work, they’re going to pay off in the long run,” Eilers said.
One of those older players, senior and first-year starting quarterback James Connelly, said the stigma surrounding the program has made it a challenge to get the youngsters to buy in.
“The freshmen coming in have a mentality that Polytech football is not a great team because that’s how we’ve been for the past few years,” Connelly said. “But we have the potential to do something good this year.”
That potential, the QB added, starts with the strength of the team’s offensive backfield, namely running back David Okeke, a junior.
Okeke had a strong season in his sophomore year, averaging nearly 6.5 yards per carry in a less-than electrifying Panther offense.
The junior running back said he spent his summer watching football film and working out to improve his game for this year.
“I set a lot of expectations for myself this year,” Okeke said. “I want to make the all-state team. And I don’t just want to boost my own stats, I want to help the team win games, too.”
