Brighton defensive end Jadan Rogers remembers the fun he had as a little tyke going to Friday night Bulldog football games.
He hung with his boys, played underneath the stands, got pizza before games. More importantly he watched the Bulldogs trounce over opponents.
That’s why last year hurt. He finally was a major part of the varsity team, one which made the state playoffs, but finished with a disappointing 5-5 record.
Now its time to get back to Brighton football, a program that has advanced to a state championship game, won KLAA titles and held back challenges from rivals Howell and Hartland.
“We are ready to bring that back,” Rogers said. “When Brighton was winning every week. We are ready to bring that back.”
No one wants that more than head coach Brian Lemons who pushes his team to be focused, prepared and unwilling to take anything for granted.
The theme this year is “earn it.” Earn being one of the top dogs in high school. Earn your position every week. And earn the respect of coaches and teammates every week. It’s been a dog fight in every practice as upper classmen try to protect what they have earned and younger guys try to take what they believe they have earned.
“The expectations every season should be to be at the top of the conference,” Lemons said. “The competition we play week in and week out is very strong. The real ability is to be able to get your guys strong enough and focused enough to get quality on the field all the time. So, we worked really hard at getting strong and getting fast, getting guys more athletic so we don’t lose guys to injury.”
A newcomer shall lead them. Last year’s starting quarterback Grant Heatherton graduated and is likely to be replaced by transfer Lawrence Wells, a dual threat quarterback who guided Ann Arbor Huron to a 5-5 record and state playoff appearance.
Linebacker Reed Blake-Thomas and Rogers should lead a much-improved defense. Watch for Nate Stark at running back and offensive guard and defensive tackle Sean O’Keefe.
-- Reach Foster at TerryFoster74@comcast.net