The Monarchs are now 3-4!! I repeat the Menchville football team is now 3-4 and essentially a lock to make the playoffs!! With the Monarchs sitting pretty at 7th place in the division, celebrating a shut-out win against Heritage, and approaching a big homecoming game against Hampton this Saturday, now is the perfect time to continue this “Fixing Football” saga by talking to the players.

Neveah Brown, Omari Johnson, Shanon Hall, Seven Warren, and Kendrick Fultz are all sitting in the library. It’s early in the morning, but you wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at the players in the midst of lively football discussions. The interview begins with a question about one of Coach Taylor’s comments in our last interview: “Is your hard work ethic the main reason you are in the playoff hunt?”

“Yeah,” said a senior on the team, Shanon Hall. “We all work hard at practice, we do our best at the games… and if we don’t we get pulled out.”

“The grind’s been crazy,” continued sophomore Seven Warren, “they’ve been killing us.”

Kendrick Fultz, the only player in the group to play under previous coach, Ray Savage, discussed what he thinks has changed the most under coach Taylor. He stressed the fact that Coach Taylor cares about the program, and made sure the team had nice places to train over the summer. Neveah Brown elaborated, “Coach Taylor actually does a lot to push the program. He gets us involved with a lot of stuff that goes on outside of football. He makes sure we have our grades right, makes sure we feel right at practice. He just wants us to do our best.”

As many people know, the main event of the high school football season is the homecoming game. With that in mind, the players described the excitement that comes with playing in the homecoming game. Said Hall, “We finally got a homecoming game… that’s going to be a good game.”

“[we have to] just come how we usually do,” said Kendrick Fultz. “It’s loud… but you just gotta want it more than the other team.”

“Win at all costs!” exclaimed Seven Warren.

The Menchville football team is determined to win their homecoming game and stay focused throughout the conclusion of the season. The Monarchs play the Hampton Crabbers on Saturday at 1:00 at Todd Stadium.