Bolstered by a significant number of freshman, Jefferson’s football team will remain active for the 2019-20 season. In addition to varsity, Jefferson’s JV team will also return after being cut the previous season due to a lack of new recruits. 

The news comes after concerns that the program would lack the numbers needed to field any team, varsity or JV. Junior Niko Economos credits the team’s push for new players during the offseason for the program’s resurgence. 

“This year we had around 20 freshmen join, whereas last year we had around 5,” Economos said. “In terms of the new players who aren’t freshmen, we really pushed for new recruits during the offseason.”

Players joined for a variety of reasons, including to make new friends. 

“I decided to join football because I wanted to meet people,” freshman Griff Boehnlein said. “My experience with the team has been positive. It has been slightly challenging in some points but fun.”

Now, having completed its most successful season in recent memory last year, the Colonials will seek to take the leap to further success this fall. 

“This year we expect to win more games, simply put,” Economos said. “The combination of our new schedule which matches us with teams that are closer to our size and our desire to do better than years past will put us on top.”

Although incumbent players on the team arguably benefit the most from the new additions to the team, Jefferson students who cherish the atmosphere of the Back to School Bash and Homecoming games also breathed a sigh of relief. 

“I was really disappointed at the prospect that the freshmen class of ‘23 would be unable to experience the excitement of a TJ football game,” sophomore Elliott Lee said. “I made my first few friends at these games and it was a great bonding experience for the whole school– something every school should have. High school football is a staple for every high schooler.”