With  12 seniors graduating, many may question the future of AMHS football. Many thought that the 2021-2022 season  was  going to be AMHS’s best. Even though with some upsetting losses to Burke, BEHS, and North Charleston, the team did show  potential. During the Homecoming game against BEHS, starting quarterback William Hyatt struggled with a shoulder injury that put him out for the rest of the season—forcing someone to step up and take his place. Junior Tate Brown had to quickly learn all the plays and get to work on the field. Through a rough first game, Tate promptly pulled it together with the support of the rest of the AMHS team. Some of the juniors on the team explained how they are most excited for the  coming season as we will be back to more school spirit. With Covid-19 ruining the 2020-2021 season, the anticipation for the return to football was high; however, the best game during the season was the homecoming game and even with an upsetting ending, the student section “pulled up.” However, the following games lacked the student participation that Magnet has become used to.

As the junior class looks forward to becoming seniors next year, I asked several of them about plans to make the 2022-2023 season the best one yet. The first plan came from some organizational problems this year. Since leaving the very packed birdcage at Danny Jones stadium, several issues arose within the new student section. First, spirit leaders. Spirit leader is a passed down position in which selected seniors run chants, and the goal is to lead a hype student section. Due to an increase in space, most of the seniors did not end up in the stands; instead, they were on the floor of the stands. This affected the communication between the stands and the front as it became evident that sound within this football stadium can get lost very quickly. The freshmen reported that they were unable to hear the cheers, which led to a quieter student section even though the freshmen were the most prominent supporters. The current juniors hope to fix this problem by only allowing selected spirit leaders to be on the floor in hopes of having some louder cheers.

In addition, because of Covid,  there have been less opportunities to continue school traditions this year. But, the plan is to bring them back. Hopefully, for the 2022-2023 school year, we will be back to a 100% everyday and will be able to hold pep rallies to bring back the bond that magnet has lost.

I decided to sit down and talk to the new starting quarterback Tate Brown for some insight on the upcoming season. He stated that he predicts that they will have a great season  as they hope to continue what they have built on this past year. He shared his experience of jumping into the QB spot as he wasn’t scared, but needed to get used to playing the position during his first few games. He said he is looking forward to winning  games and getting some new players to help build the team as magnet looks to have a bright future in the upcoming years.

Current senior quarterback William Hyatt commented on Tate’s talent stating, “Tate’s spiral is so tight it makes me lose my mind. I can’t wait to watch him spin the pigskin in 2022.” He obviously has high hopes for Tate’s performance next year.

Senior offensive lineman John O’Neil left some final words for the team, “I’m proud of all the hard work and hard-fought battles we took part in this season. We accomplished more than I imagined possible thanks to the dirt and determination of the coaches and players. I will remember these moments forever.”

Senior tight end Oliver Abar wanted to leave the team with one piece of advice, “Coach Kamp’s secret tickle spot is in his left armpit.” Explaining this is a crucial thing to know but to use wisely.

Senior Charlie Kuyper said, “I can’t wait to come to watch the games and see the team get better each year.”

Senior Brett Cox’s words of wisdom were, “The freshmen have been killing it all year so that they will be a massive part of the offense next year, and much of the offensive line will hopefully remain the same. Although a lot of seniors are leaving, the football team has potential to be an offensive powerhouse next year with Tate at the helm.”

Hoping to keep traditions alive and continue the hard work of the past season,  the AMHS  football team would like to wish the graduating seniors good luck and hope to make them proud in the following years.