As a safety on the football team, Brendyn Dufour knows that game day is much more than what happens under the Friday night lights.
While sometimes he wishes he could experience the excitement of the student section, cheering, talking with friends, and dressing up for games, he ultimately prefers being on the feild. He claims
“It looks fun, but I like to be out there playing.”
For fans watching from the stands, one thing that can be easy is to overlook how much work goes into each game. From summer to fall practices and everything in between, the team puts countless hours both during scheduled practices and on their own.
When the team is struggling, the players rely on their leaders to keep everyone motivated. The older players help hype the team up, communicate plays and remind everyone to continue, even when things aren’t going their way.
Being a student athlete also comes with its own challenges. For Dufour, the hardest part is time management. Balancing practices outside of school, schoolwork, college preparation and senior year responsibilities can make it difficult to keep up with everything.
One of his most memorable games of the season was against River Ridge. After previous losses, finally getting a win against them was a major source of motivation for the team and gave the players a reason to keep going.
Despite the gap in age and experience, Dufour claims the team feels like one unit. There is no divide between the older and younger players, and they view themselves as part of the same team working towards a common goal.
Beyond High School, Dufour would like to continue playing a sport in college, but football won’t be his next stop. Instead, he plans to pursue lacrosse, taking the lessons and experiences he’s gained from football with him into the next chapter of his life.
