By Evie Beale

Sports Editor

    The Crater was rocking, filled with fans from all over Winston-Salem. The R.J. Reynolds High School football team was set to face the Reagan High School Raiders. Going into the game, RJR was looking to become 7-0, in what would be a nerve-racking and huge game for the football program.

    “There was a lot of excitement around the team,” senior captain Tommy Elrod said. “We were 6-0, and Reagan was 5-1. We were looking at it as one of the biggest games that we have ever played in, one of the biggest games for the school. The pep rally added to that, along with Coach always getting the boys going.”

    With the game holding such importance, the team had to find ways to keep everyone calm and collected while playing, especially those who had never been in a high-pressure game before.

    “With all the people there, certainly for some of the lower-classmen, that can be very nerve-racking,” Elrod said. “Guys like me and other captains have played around a lot of fans for a long time, so the older you get, the less it impacts your game, and we try to just help them as leaders and tell them, ‘look, these people are all here to see you, and you should be proud of that.’”

    That excitement definitely showed as RJR came out of the gate running, quickly picking up a few first downs. This year, the RJR run game has improved tremendously, but going into the game, RJR knew the Raiders would be prepared to stop them. The run game involves a player carrying the ball to gain yards, while the pass game involves the ball being thrown to gain yards. 

    “We’re getting a lot more teams who respect our run game, and they are coming down on us and trying to take that way,” Elrod said. “In turn, we hit them with the pass game over the top.”

   At the end of the first quarter, RJR was fighting hard to score and keep the Raiders from penetrating the defense, only trailing 0-14. During the second quarter, RJR started to come back, winning the quarter 8-7. This led them into the half barely down 8-21, an improvement from the first quarter.

    “We went into the half scoring and getting a two-point conversion late, so we had the momentum,” head coach Joe Davidiyock said. “I liked the energy and the focus that was going into the locker room, as they were having their own meetings for how they were going to handle the second half.”

    Unfortunately for the team, the game did not go their way, and they were unable to come back, ending the game 8-44. While the team was disappointed at the time, they knew they needed to shift their focus to the future.

    “As a team, we decompress whatever happens Friday night, we talk about it, and we’re angry about it for that whole night, and maybe even Saturday,” Elrod said. “But by the time we get back to the facility on Monday, we’re ready to go.”

   For a coach, the way your team responds to a loss can be stressful. Coaches don’t know if the team is going to react positively or negatively, but they hope the response is fair.

    “You always worry about how guys will handle a loss,” Davidyock said. “But I think they’ve done a great job coming in and handling it the right way.”

    Although RJR may have lost, they have the perseverance to keep pushing for more victories this year. The team is focused and ready to face the rest of the season head-on, despite adversity.