Everyone is a key factor of Friday night lights! Whether you’re a part of our successful marching band, cheering for the team on the sideline, showing school spirit in the student section, supporting friends and family on the field, or even playing the game that night, the football season is a time to come together and show Rocky pride.
The Head Football Coach, Fritz Dieudonne is very excited about the team and the year that’s to come. The football team has been working hard before the season started, with summer practices, as well as lifting and conditioning in the fitness center. Dieudonne explains how much the summer practices helped the team get better in a more efficient manner. He says, “Last year, we were in a new system of offense and defense, and literally, we’re trying to teach everybody on the field everything. Where this year, so many guys have all spent a year, whether they were sophomore or freshman, all the words mean something to them now, so the pace of practice and the amount of stuff we were able to cover definitely increased.” With this being said, Dieudonne always makes sure his team is doing the best they can during this preparation. Defensive Lineman, Kylan Mitchell says, “He stands on my back, but he also isn’t really on my back. He gives me encouragement, and he tells me I’m doing good and everything, and he gives me reassurance that I’m doing good.”
Diuedonne believes that lifting and conditioning, which the team participated in over the summer, helped them prepare for the season ahead by stating, “… physically and mentally it challenges them and gets them ready for football. It’s a growing sport and so it really trains again both mentally and physically for the grind of what it means to be playing football. But it also serves as a team bonding experience. It’s working out with one another, guys pushing their bodies to their limits and having teammates encourage them to improve. Definitely creates a team atmosphere.”
Football is all about team bonding, sportsmanship, and just the family mindset when it comes to the Rock Island Team. Diuedonne loves that his team supports one another, whether it’s on the field, on the sideline, during practice, or outside of school. He says, “Honestly, with competing and being truly joyful when one of your teammates has a success with something right? And you know, at our Red Gold scrimmage, you know, our guys picked up a fumble, and ran it into a touchdown, and to see the entire sideline celebrate and run down the sideline and celebrate as he’s running, running into the field to celebrate, it was a natural organic response to seeing one of the sophomore make a big play.” In addition, he believes the team works as a family. He states, “We do definitely function as a family, and we’re all families, you know, we support each other, bicker at one another, but God help you if you’re outside of the family and you come at us right? … Juice, our quarterback, you know, they hit Juice, and them wanting to jump up and defend him or defend one another. Yeah, that is a family, that’s a family piece. When we’re conditioning, and we have them running up and down hills, and somebody’s struggling, and they’re trying to encourage that person to see it through and to finish, that too, is another family piece for us.” Team bonding and sportsmanship is a special concept for the team. Mitchell further explains how well the team shows compassion to each other by saying, “When we get down on ourselves or we mess up a play, whatever, didn’t get to our coverage or whatever, we still give them their props, tell them they’re doing alright.”
Although Dieudonne and Mitchell are a part of the same team, they have different viewpoints when it comes to what their favorite aspect is about the team. Mitchell simply explains that his favorite part is team dinner and being able to hang out and make new friends. Dieudonne though, goes into further detail, stating, “Football has opened doors for me to go to St. Ambrose, plus I got recruited to play football there, I met my wife while I was at St. Ambrose, and now I work at the university, and so at this point in my life, 27 years as a coach, it’s really pouring back into this generation the way all the coaches that had high impact on me did for me.”
Not only is the football team a group of high school kids who play on the field every week, but they’re a family, and that family welcomes anyone who’s willing to show Rocky pride. So, the question is; how will you be a part of the season this year?
Are you ready to ROCK?
