Thursday Night Football

CdM+wins+42-7+against+Fountain+Valley+on+Thursday+September%2C+15th.+Photo+courtesy+of+%40seakingfootball+on+Instagram.

CdM wins 42-7 against Fountain Valley on Thursday September, 15th. Photo courtesy of @seakingfootball on Instagram.

Kaydence Osgood, Journalist

The week of September 15th, September 29th, and October 6th CdM’s football games are on a Thursday because of scheduling conflicts with Harbor. This is because CdM shares a varsity football field with Harbor, which leads to some scheduling conflicts. This happens every year, however, it is significant this year because, according to head football coach Mr. O’shea, it is the most Thursday night football game they’ve had.  Of course, any time a routine is changed there are going to be some positives and negatives.

 

Coach O’shea shared that they love Thursday games. “We prefer them, football-wise, because we’re ready to play on Thursday.” He explained it benefits due to the way they format their practice. He also pointed out that by having the games on Thursday they are “…one of the featured games of the week because there’s not a lot of other high school games on Thursday nights.” By being one of the only ones, more coaches and players can attend, and vice versa, more football players can attend other sports on Friday. Senior Abby Gilbert frequently goes to the games and said a positive about the Thursday games is that since there are fewer people in the audience, she was able to “…be there and be very attentive. I wasn’t really worried about all the other people around me.” Sophomore Tessa McRae is a flyer on CdM’s cheer squad and likes having Fridays off because it allows her to get to Friday and feel like the week is over, whereas if she has a game it feels longer.

 

Je’von Short, a junior at CdM and running back on the football team, feels that it doesn’t affect the way they play, but “it’s kind of like a lot when you have to go to school and then go to a game and then come back to school the next day.” All the interviewees agreed that Thursday games impact the audience. They all talked about how attendance was lower and McRae explained that most people leave at around half-time. McRae also feels that the low attendance impacts the energy of the game and how the players play.