Here at Cary-Grove, the football team is full of our own celebrities. We know everything there is to know about the games, but what we don’t know is what goes on behind the scenes. We fans haven’t had the experience to know what it’s like to be on the field with thousands of people cheering us on, so some players shared their perspective on it.

“Being part of the team is an awesome experience for me,” junior Kevin Hughes said. “I love all the guys and I’ve learned so much — not just about the game of football, but about being a good person.” Their passion for the game never goes away.

“I’ve built up so much excitement during the week that I can’t wait to get on the field,” Hughes said. The players get excited waiting a single week for a game, so waiting for years to play a game this big takes them to another level.

“It feels great to be on a winning team as a senior because this has been our goal ever since we were freshmen,” senior Connor Leach said. “It puts some pressure (on us) getting so close to the championship, but for most of us, this is our last year playing football so we’re really just trying to enjoy it and go out and play.”

It’s easy to enjoy a season when you’ve won every game. Even then, though, some moments are sweeter than others.

“My highlight was when we beat Huntley, just because it was such an emotional game and it ended up being the deciding factor of who won the conference, and I’m glad we were on the winning side,” Leach said.

We are so proud to see how far they’ve come this year and we will continue to be proud of them no matter what Saturday brings.