Second-year head football coach Mark Poston and football team leaders Ben Rhodenizer, Malik Dunn, Triniti Stores, and Dustin Mays, along with many other lead seniors, decided it was time to turn their previous losing streak into a winning season. The ‘Cats geared up for the season with proper skills, discipline, and mindset.

“Our goal is to make the playoffs. The Wildcat team hasn’t made the playoffs in a while, and we’d like to bring that back,” said Poston.

The ‘Cats began workouts for the season in December, continuing them throughout the summer.

“We had extremely high attendance in varsity and on the JV level, which showed our dedication and our want for a competitive season,” said Poston.

The athletes focused on conditioning, offense and defense drills, as well as recruiting new players since the team lost several seniors from last year. The varsity team gained new players including seniors Ellison Morel, freshman Elijah Poindexter, and a new student, junior Quynton Brackens.

Poston is geared up his players and set them up to win every game possible by giving them constant encouragement and pushing them toward their goals.

“Coach Poston believed in us when nobody else did. Even after our losing season last year, he talked all Spring and Summer about how we were going to blowout PM, shatter season passing records, and make the playoffs,” said senior Kyle Irvine. “We’ve already beat PM and now my teammates and I believe we’re on track for the playoffs and the record book.”

“Ever since the first day of offseason workouts in December, we’ve been breaking it down to ‘beat the blues’ and we did just that. To start, we had a great week of practice and it translated right to the game,” said Irvine. “I think a take away from both PM and Lee is that we have to finish. In both games we started fast in the first half and then couldn’t get get things going in the second, which was the deciding factor in the Lee game.”

So far this season, the Wildcat football team defeated the Parry McCluer Blues, lost to R.E. Lee, won over Alleghany, lost to Lord Botetourt, and won over Fort Defiance High School. Another win was earned over Turner Ashby for the homecoming game, followed by a loss to Harrisonburg High School. After a close overtime game, the ‘Cats beat Waynesboro, then lost to Spotswood the following week.

The players are excited for the conclusion of the season. They hope to reach the playoffs, strengthen their playing, and bring a winning season back to Rockbridge, with strong senior leadership and an enthusiastic underclass.