“Of course when you win 33-0 you feel good,” head coach of the CHS varsity football team Linwood Barnes said after the Greyhounds kicked off the 2018 season with a dominating win Friday evening against Gateway High School.
The Hounds were looking forward to the game and hoping to see their months of dedication and hard work throughout the offseason payoff.
“We just wanted to get out there and play and see how we can dominate and play our kind of football. We’ve been working hard all summer so our offense line, defense line, offense and defense are all gelling,” Barnes said.
The team started off slow but then began to pile on the touchdowns.
“First quarter we were all a little nervous, but once we got one touchdown on the board we loosened up a little. Then we were up by 27 at halftime. We kind of slowed it down in the third and fourth quarters to run the clock and ended up winning 33-0,” junior quarterback Ty Sucher said.
The win was a team effort, and several players contributed to the success.
“The offensive line didn’t allow any sacks and the defense stood out because they held them to a scoreless game. We played together as a team and played well,” Barnes said.
There were notable performances by Sucher, senior wide receiver Reece Barnett and junior running back Jalen Williams. These standouts helped lead the Greyhounds to victory.
Friday’s game was William’s first time playing the running back position. He rose to the challenge and contributed to the win as he rushed for 129 yards and scored 3 touchdowns.
“I followed my assignments, ran hard and scored a couple touchdowns,” Williams said.
Another standout player was junior quarterback Ty Sucher. He completed 13 of 16 passes, threw for 206 yards had 2 passing touchdowns.
Even with a shutdown win, the team still has things to improve on.
The Hounds received many unnecessary penalties throughout the game.
“We just have to play with poise and understand that when we’re up [like we were in this game], teams are going to be trying to do something to get us angry,” said Barnes. “So we just need to cut out all the penalties and we’ll be alright.”
The team will celebrate their win, but not for too long. They plan to soon begin preparing and watching film for their upcoming game on Thursday, Aug. 30 against University City.
After finishing 1-8 last season, the Greyhounds hope to win many more games this season.
“My perception last year was that the team was just hoping to compete, but this year I expect us to win,” Barnes said. “I expect us to win a lot of football games just because of what we’ve been doing in practice, so my expectations are high.”
