Is Marquette football ready for the playoffs? So far, Marquette Football is 3-1 as of Sept. 14. It’s still early, but the team is confident, the Blue Crew is ready, and morale is up. I had the honor of interviewing one captain of the team, Sean Phillips, to see what he had to say about the season. Sean Phillips has been on the team for all four years and loves what he does as OL/DL. He and the other captains plan on bringing Marquette to the playoffs and hopefully state.
When I asked if he and the team were confident that they would make it to the playoffs, Sean replied saying, “Yes, very confident.”
With the new incoming freshman joining the team, I wanted to know if any of them are promising, and will be an asset to the team. Sean told me, “Oh, I think they all are. You know their own degrees, but I’ll say, I feel like there’s two that kind of stand out more than the rest of them, and that’s Bub [Kavon Lacey] and then Brody McLeod, Ethan’s little brother. It seems like they both got a lot of heart. They hustle, and it showed in the JV game when they went up against Red Bud. That’s what they were. I’d say they’re definitely the most promising freshman, they’re still working out the kinks, but it’s all in due time.” From Sean’s perspective, it sure seems like there are high hopes for the freshman.
After a strong season last year, everyone is wondering if we can do it again. I wondered about the team’s biggest strength, and Captain Phillips delivered this response, stating, “I would still say our run game is a pretty strong factor, even after losing, people like Jack Rea, [Jack] Beaber, and CJ [Steib] on the line… Jordan and Dante are just, they’re hard runners. They’re very talented guys. You know, Jordan has a lot of strength behind him… It’s rare for one guy to take him down. It’s usually a group of them. And then Dante is just a freak athlete, so, I mean, the speed he is, he is able to use moves, and when he gets in open field, it really takes it to the next level.”
The biggest question is what can stop this team? I asked Sean what game he was looking forward to the most, and who could be our biggest challenge. Sean said, “Honestly, I would say the game against Roxana, because since I’ve been here, we’ve never beat them. So… it definitely feels like a slap in the face every time we go out there, and [the team] is just like, “Oh, it’s Roxana, we’re gonna lose this game.” From what I’ve heard, their defense is not all too good, and I’m confident that our offense can score on most teams, and we have scored on every time we played against someone so far, so why not now? My main goal right now: beat Roxana, make it to the playoffs.”
In order to keep hopes high, I asked Sean what he plans on doing in order to boost morale on the team. Sean replied saying, “So, last week during a practice, I kind of gave a speech, you know, I was trying to just get the guys hyped up while we were working out. And you know, like a lot of them came to me afterwards and told me that, like, it actually did motivate them. And that it was heartfelt coming from me. So, whenever it’s needed and it’s a moment where people are down, or trying to give up, I’ll give another speech if I can, or just be there and kind of just be an example.” Sean told me that during practice or before a game, he will give a speech to motivate the team. Some of the players came up to him after and told him it did motivate them and it was actually heart felt.
For the final part of my interview, I had to ask the most controversial question and one everyone on the team wants to know: who’s the best on the team? He gave his honest opinion, stating, “Oof. Well, I’m not gonna come from, like, a place of ego and say it’s me, because that’s just wrong to say, and I mean, it’s 11 men on the field at all times, so I can’t say that I do it all. Now, if I was playing offense, defense, special teams, and I just did it all, then I’d have no choice but to think I’m one of the top guys, but I don’t say for the people that do go, are both kinds of ways. I would say I’d put them closer to the top of the list, but at the end of the day, it is a team game, so. I’m gonna say, nobody specifically is the best…the guys who are scoring and are able to work off with the O-line and the D line and help them, those are probably some of the best players.”
Be First to Comment