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University High School
SOAR
SOAR University Hisgh School 1000 W. Rhode Island Avenue Orange City, FL 32763 Phone: (386) 968-0013 Fax: (386) 968-0015
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SOAR
When faced with any obstacle in life, there are only ever two options: You can lay down, and accept whatever life has coming at you, or you can take a stand, and soar above the expectations, letting you take control of your own life, and to not have the world simply have its way with you. Without taking the time to want to excell, we are trapped in the realm of mediocrity, never realizing the potential that you can one day achieve. When anything comes at you, spread your wings and
SOAR
Harder faster Better stronger Fire fuels Titan football to be better than ever before Every single person in the stadium was standing on their feet, screaming at the top of their lungs. There are only ten seconds on the clock, and your team was down by four. You can feel everyone’s eyes on you, but you were determined to show all of the fans why they came. This was the attitude of the Titan football program. The Titans lost fifteen seniors from the previous year, and the team was not expected to compete or even make the playoffs. “Us coaches really saw it as a rebuilding year,“ head varsity football coach Kent Murphy said. “If you would’ve told me we’d have had the season we had six months ago, I’d have laughed in your face.“ After a rough 0-2 start to the season, the Titans had a surge of performance, led by junior quarterback Trey Thompson, and won eight games in a row, clinching a spot in the postseason, where they won the district title, the regional title, but fell short in the state championship game, losing by 4 points. “Yeah, it’s alway tough losing like that,“ Thompson said. “But, you know, I’m still really proud of these boys and everything we accomplished together.“
Mad Dash In a crazy sprint, junior wide reciever Axl Rose tries to break through the defenders and get open for a pass. “This season was wild,“ Rose said. “Everyone really stepped up, and I couldn’t be more proud of my brothers on the field.“
Stiff arm, sucker Busting it towards the endzone, senior running back James Wilson blocks the opposition’s defender with a stiff arm. “Every game we go out there and win, we show everyone else they shouldn’t ever count us out.“
Toppling terror In the middle of the chaos, senior varsity linebackers Richard Goodwin, Chad Griffin, and Kyle Campbell attempt to strip the ball from the opposing team. “It’s definitely the most intense mooment of the game for me,“ Campbell said. “You’re in the middle of a bunch of guys, but you’re lasered in on the ball.“
Thompson’s rise to prominence may have been a surprise to most people, but his teammates would tell you otherwise. “I’ve played with Trey since I was seven, and you best believe he was just as good then,“ junior Blake Harris said. “There ain’t no way he wasn’t gonna explode this year.“ However, it was not just the offense that carried the titans on their incredible postseason run. “You really have to give a lot of credit to our defense,“ junior wide reciever Axl Rose said. “I know a bunch of you look at Trey, and I’m not trying to take away from him at all, but you have to show our defense some love.“ As for the largest change from previous years, the main theme was camraderie. “The boys worked relatively well last year,“ assistant coach James Collins said. “But, I don’t know, everything just really clicked this year, we had everything turn up in our fvor and it was an awesome feeling.“ However, getting over the rough start to the season was not the easiest thing to do.
After losing their first two games with a combined score of 14-49, the Titans felt their season was in jeopardy. “It was super scary,“ senior kicker William Prescott said. “With the start we had, I was afraid my senior year of football was gonna be over before it even began.“ The turnaround was brutal, as the coaches brought their team down every day, broke them down, and built them back from the ground up. “It was, by far, the toughest I have ever been on a group of kids in my tenure here,” Murphy said. “But, I knew in my heart that there was a ton of wasted potential, and I was gonna show each one of them what they could be like at the top of their game.“ The players, while initially upset over the physical and mental hurdles, were silenced when they won their next game 30-3, and rode the wave allthe way to the state championshiop game. “The work was brutal,“ senior Richard Callahan said. “But the coaches showed me what I was capable of, and that’s a great life lesson: Never let early failures stop you from persevering on, and showing the whole world what you’re really made of.“
Break away In an attempt to break away from the defense, sophomore wide reciever Jason Harris turns and runs away. “Football is my life,“ Harris said. “I don’t know what I’d do without it.“
Line up
fighting flag man
In an intense staredown, both teams prepare for the snap. “That right there is pure, unadulterated ferocity,“ junior quarterback Trey Thompson said. “Looking the other
Waving his team’s flag before every game, senior Jamal Crawford gets the whole stadium hyped up. “Being a hype man, it’s always been a part of me,“ Crawford said. “It
team eye to eye, it’s awesome.“
helps get our boys real fired up.“
Why do u go? 24%
Just to get out of the house
44%
To see the Titans win
23% I have friends on the team
9% I don’t
201 Odys
Orange City, Florida