Everyone has a different school that competes each other to their best. Kimmons football players had different opinions over which school was their biggest rival.

According to Stefan Abrego, 8th, Darby was the biggest rival.

“Most kids from our school grew up together and love competing against each other,” Stefan said.

Kendre Esaw, 8th, disagreed.

“Darby was not our main rival because they were our allies since they used the same plays as us,” Kendre said. “Kimmons and Chaffin were basically fighting for the city.”

Others agreed with Kendre that Chaffin was the biggest rival.

“There is a lot of tension between us,” Randy Duong, 9th, said. “Since we lost out game against Chaffin, we worked hard to beat them the second time.”

The Cougars have an impressive record.

“Chaffin won almost every year, and we wanted to beat them,” Timothy Graves, 7th, said.

Throughout the season, the coaches prepared the athletes physically and mentally to face their rivals.

“The coaches ran us so we could behave, and we practiced hard and hustled,” Antouine Bias, 7th, said.

Learning strategies were also important.

“They helped us prepare for the blocking and tackling,” Timothy Graves, 7th, said.

Life lessons factored in, as well.

“The coaches showed us to never cut corners and to do right,” Yared Vega, 7th, said.

Game night mattered, too.

“We sat in the locker room and got everything off our minds to focus on the game,” Jacob Moody, 9th, said.

The athletes appreciated the coaches.

“The coaches were really cool and funny,” Randy Duong, 9th, said. “They helped us so much. They made us run if we did something bad. That helped us physically and mentally. It helped discipline us and made our legs stronger.”

The coaches’ preparation paid off.

“Even though our season didn’t go the way we thought it would, we fought as a team,” Va’Sean Bishop, 9th, said.

KJH Football 2017 from Melissa Mullin on Vimeo.