MSJ

I spent the summer getting ready for the transfer. When I got to came I wasn't nervous at all. I knew my talents, and I knew they wanted me here for a reason. After the first day of practice I had already moved up the depth chart. So I was excited to see if I would be playing a lot on defense. The first couple of weeks of the season I played special teams. I thought to myself, I didn't want to spend my whole college football career playing special teams. But, luckily, my opportunity came. I moved up to the number one spot on the depth chart at strong safety. I started the rest of the season. I played well, I wanted to make more plays than I did, but that's the competitive nature in me. As a team the season didn't go as well as I had thought it would have. We ended the season at 5-5. It was a heartbreaker of a season, and if a few things that were done different we could have a better record.

Bad Season Continued

After the bad loss we had meetings the next week, like we always did, and I was now third string free safety. I was infuriated and that's when I figured out that it was going to be a long season for me. I went back to playing special teams. At one point, after the third game and third loss, I had the urge to quit because I thought that I didn't recieve a fair opportunity. I just stuck it out for the season. The season went horrible. After going 8-3 and winning a conference championship; we went 4-7. After the season, and after I saw that I couldn't get another chance to prove myself, I asked for my transfer papers. I called my head coach from high and asked him if he could help me find a new school. Within a couple of weeks I had about four schools to choose from. During winter break I visited Mount Saint Joseph's, and that was it for me. I had knew where I wanted to transfer to. I liked the program, facilities, location, and environment.

Season

I couldn't have asked for a better environment for my first game playing defense. Playing in front of 15,000 people on the road against the #1 team in Division II football. I thought I was ready. I wasn't really nervous before the game; I was more focused than anything. Then the game started and my head was spinning. It was like I had forgot everything I practiced and got from watching film. I calmed down after I made my first tackle. Unfortunately I took a bad angle and the running back broke a long run before I made that first tackle. I came out instantly. I was put back in later in the game and I ended up not having a bad game after that first mishap. We ended up getting beat pretty bad which started a bad season all together.

Summer/Summer Camp

During the summer I stayed at the school like I had done the previous year. I worked at a fireworks store and I lifted when I could. I wasn't worried about losing my spot because I knew the position and I felt that I was able to play the upcoming season. Camp came and I was still number one on the depth chart. I had a pretty good camp. I was making plays, and really proving that I deserved to play. As camp winded down we had to prepare for the #1 team in the nation. So my first game was gonna be a big test, but I thought I was ready for it. The week leading up to the game I was preparing myself for the opponent, and I felt that I was ready.

After the Season/Spring ball

After the season we celebrated the win. Unfortunately we didn't make the playoffs. We took a couple months off and then started winter workouts after winter break. I worked hard in the off season because I wanted to play defense that next season. I made it through our winter conditioning fine. The time for spring football practice had come. The coaches told me that I would have to know the cornerback and free safety positions. I was happy about that because I knew that the free safety positon was open. During practice I was put in at free safety and never looked back. I had made it to the top of the depth chart. The spring ball game came around and I was excited to be starting defense. The game going ok, I missed a couple of opportunities to make some tackles but I felt I was having a pretty game nonetheless. Going into the last minute of the game the defense was down by 5 points. So the defense needed to come up with a turnover and score. The next play the offense ran a run play, the cornerback came up and stripped the ball from the running back. He started to get tackled so he, blindly, tossed the ball behind him. I was luckily there to catch it and run it in for a touchdown to end the game. A great ending to our spring ball game.

Conference Championship

Going into our last game our record was 7-3. The team we were playing was 10-0. They were in our conference and the game was for the conference championship. The weather was horrible. It was cold, snowy, windy, and it rained a little bit. The other team had a really good quarterback who could run and pass. They also had this other quarterback that they brought in that could really throw the ball. The wasn't really much of a game the first half. They just flat out whooped our butt the first half. We went into halftime down 20-10. The second half we started slow and really couldn't get anything rolling offensively. At the end of the third quarter it was 23-10. Then we finally started to pick it up scoring 14 unanswered points to take the lead 24-23. A interception gave us an opportunity to take the lead. After taking the lead I made the tackle on kickoff. They tried to drive the field with under a minute left. They drive down to our 36 yard line and the same cornerback, who intercepted the first ball, got another interception with :19 seconds to go. The game was over and we had won the Conference.

Season Continued

After that first win, the season continued to roll along. I continued to play special teams playing kickoff and kickoff return. It felt good that I was playing as a freshman, but my competitive spirit wanted to be out there playing the whole game. However, I understood that I wasn't ready to play on defense yet; so I was content playing special teams. There were some games where I would get in on defense if we were winning big. There was also a game where a teammate that played my position got hurt in the third quarter and I came in and played the rest of the game. Talk about nervous; but didn't do too bad. As the year went along we won a lot of games and lost a few. My freshman season I was living the dream. I was playing college football, traveling to different states, playing great teams from all over...I couldn't have dreamed a better situation.