Our Kadets are fresh off of an 0-10 football season, but this year, they are back and better than ever. Even though our football team experienced a hard season last year, it hasn’t stopped any of them when it comes to giving their best. Day after day they are always out on the field putting in the work and when it comes to game day, you can see the results.

The football team started off their season with a bang. They won their first game against Grand Junction and scooped up another victory the following week against Cheyenne Mountain. Even though they lost against Sand Creek, they still put up a good fight. Our starting Quarterback, Adam Brown, broke the state record for most passing yards thrown in a single game, a record that hasn’t been broken in seven years. During that game, Adam passed for over 589 yards.

With the previously unseen success in the football team and the fact that they are now winning games, one may ask; why the sudden change? That question is easily answered by three words: teamwork, dedication and spirit.

The team’s dynamic this year is far different than those of past years. Adam Brown says, “This year the team is more like a family, we help each other up when we are down and heavily rely on one another.” He continues by saying, “When one of us screw up during a play, we acknowledge what went wrong and instead of beating on each other we learn from the mistakes- that’s what makes us great.” 

Our Kadets this year also have a lot of dedication. They dedicate hours upon hours on practicing plays, watching film, and weight lifting. It doesn’t matter if it’s unbearably hot, humid, or cold. Even if there are swarms of locusts, they are always on the field training to be better. There are days when it is so unbelievably hot yet you see our players trekking down to the field, with their heavy padding, and they all take it like champs- with only a few side remarks of “kill me”- because what they want over all is to win games and bring back their victory to the halls of Air Academy, as well as tell every other school that there is no place better to be.

Along with dedication, their spirit on and off the field is what really gets them amped and ready to play. During a play, whether it is offense or defense, the boys on the sideline always make some noise and generate enough hype in hope that it will reach the players on the field, so the players can play with everything they’ve got- because honestly, who plays well with a limp crowd? Even in the face of defeat, our Kadet boys keep their heads high and don’t let the fact that we are losing get us down to a point where we’re performing less-than-average. This is where the teamwork kicks in too, as teammates they have to lean on each other in times of need so they don’t slip up even more.

And in the words of Phelan Castellano, “This is our new dynasty. #wekeeppushin #kadetnation.”