CENTENNIAL’S BACK!!! That’s the slogan being passed around the school.
Centennial’s football team beat number 15 ranked South Albany High School in the preseason jamboree on August 30th, 12-6. The boys then confidently played St. Helen’s High School in their season opener on September 9th at home in The Nest. Many students and staff came to see how the team would perform being led by newly appointed head coach Tim Price. The packed out stands watched Centennial score two early touchdowns and end the game in a 20-14 victory. This was Centennial’s first season opening win since 2017.
Morale and school spirit is at an all time high and the team is eager to compete again and again. Centennial also won their second game against Parkrose High School on September 13th. 59-26 was the final score and over 500 yards were rushed for. This is one of Centennial’s highest scoring and rushing games of all time. This unbeaten and seemingly unbeatable mentality will propel them to perform at their absolute best in the following game this Friday, September 20th.
The mentality is a major reason that Centennial is now winning. Timothy Petriyenko, wide receiver and team captain, commented on the team’s new found mentality saying, “Team chemistry and the team bonding. There’s no bickering, no fighting, we’re all just having a great time out here just playing.”
Not only the players, but the staff has noticed the difference in mindset as well. Social studies teacher, Mr. Farely said, “Today you can see the players’ heads held high, proudly wearing their jerseys around school.” Mindset can be the most important thing in any sport but especially a team based one like football. This new attitude and way the players carry themselves have had an immense impact on the way they are playing.
After the win against St. Helen’s starting quarterback, Aiden Teyema said. “This win means everything and nothing at the same time. It means everything because we finally won, it’s a new era and the team is now more confident than ever. However, this also means nothing because this was only one game. While it is good we won we can’t let this make us overconfident and cause more mistakes than will already happen. We should be proud of our win and more confident but we shouldn’t let it get to our heads. I believe that if we continue to work hard, play as a team, and stay close we will continue to win.”
This mindset of closeness and team unity plays a major role in the teams performance and allows them to trust not only each other but the coaching staff as well. When the players trust the coaches and the coaches trust the players it creates an environment where the team can play to their full potential. There are still mistakes that will be made and things to work on but as the season progresses and the team practices more and more the mistakes will be minimized, and hopefully the wins will continue to roll in and end with a playoff run, the first since 2016.