Cade Gonzalez, Senior, plays running back for Fossil Ridge High School’s Varsity Football team. He says that he took an interest in football starting in eighth grade and chose to start playing seriously his freshman year of high school. He plays because it is a good motivation and something to put all of his energy into. His parents have been his biggest supporters since the day he decided to start playing, and they continue to cheer him on in his last year.

When it comes to his senior year, Gonzalez says, “It feels weird because it flew by really fast, faster than you think.” Unless Gonzalez gets a scholarship to play football in college, he does not see himself going out of the way to play. 

When it is game day, Gonzalez gets into his own mind space. He tries to focus on each play and what responsibilities he is going to have that game. To get confidence before a game, “I find confidence in myself and know that there are going to be things in the game that I can’t control and to focus on the things I can and just do my part,” he adds. Gonzalez sometimes gets nervous before he plays, but he is confident in himself and knows he will try to do his best every single game.

The best thing about football is how the team is a family, Gonzalez said that all sports in high school become their own families. Before he played football, he did not know many of the guys on the team, and they have now come to be some of his best friends. Gonzalez says he enjoyed playing football his sophomore year the most because that was when the players started to get create bonds and playing became more fun. When he graduates, Gonzalez says he is going to miss the guys on the team the most.  A major highlight for Gonzalez was getting team Most Valuable Player (MVP) on Junior Varsity his junior year.

When training, he enjoys lifting but not conditioning as it is very exhausting. A strength of his is making sure people give every single play their all, but he could work on helping the team keep their energy up. A successful season for him would be for the team to win more games than they lose, and to play the best they can this year. Looking at the last season he hopes to get the amount of playing time that he wants. Gonzalez says, “This year I want to prove to my coaches that I am varsity material and make some last memories with the people I have known since freshman year.”