McKinley High School’s football team has suffered low numbers for years. This limited amount of players heavily affected the program, especially when players sat out because of injuries and academic probation. This year, head coach Pat Silva decided cancelled the JV season to keep the underclassmen safe and increase the numbers in the varsity roster.

“It’s a physical game and if you haven’t played before, it can be kind of dangerous,” Bob Morikuni, athletic  director, said. “We want to keep our kids safe so they can participate. That’s why this year … we decided to have a varsity only.”

One underclassman that moved up is sophomore Joab Cruz. This is his second year in the program and he was disappointed about the cancellation of his last junior varsity season, but his passion for the sport encouraged him to step up to the next level.

“People in varsity are much bigger, much faster, more skilled, and hit harder than people would in JV,” Cruz said. “It is a fun experience and varsity helps me get better much quicker knowing that anything could happen and one mistake can cost you your spot.”

Freshmen are rarely moved up to varsity teams because of the amount of skill and hard work it takes to compete at this level. However, freshman Paxton Nouchi showed he had what it took and was one of the only freshman chosen to play ball with the upperclassmen.

“I was a little shaky about having no JV, but I took this as an opportunity to take a bigger step into playing on a [higher] level because not many kids get to play varsity as a freshman,” Nouchi said. “It feels pretty special… I am just grateful for the opportunity.”

Although the junior varsity season was cancelled and only sophomores and a couple of freshmen were moved up, there are still freshmen that practice every day; getting more experience and preparing for their JV season next year. Even though these players are unable to actually perform in the game, they are still part of the family and are treated as such.

“Win or lose, I love the team I play for,” Cruz said. “We all fight until the end and we all have each other’s backs.”