As the fog rolled in over Point Loma High School’s football field on Oct. 26, Jacob Tausaga ‘21, like the rest of his teammates, had one goal in mind: finishing the season as strong as they started with the ultimate objective of remaining undefeated.

“This season is different compared to last year for me and everyone because I believe our team, including myself has grown both physically and mentally,” Tausaga said.

The CCHS junior varsity football team, coached by Mr. Joe Filippone, ended their 2018 season with a 10-0 record winning against teams such as Helix High School, Saint Augustine High School, and El Camino High School.

The coaching staff kept practices lively and the boys engaged by setting new goals for each practice, Mr. Filippone said.

Starting together as freshmen allowed for improved chemistry and closer connections to manufacture in their second year.

“I play inside linebacker and my teammates have pushed me to become a better player by teaching me how to be able to learn from my mistakes,” Tausaga said. “I learned how I can fix them, and how I can count on them to keep encouraging me to do what’s right.”

Junior varsity coaches only enhanced the players´ability to learn from their mistakes. The leadership among coaches also pushed the team to practice perfect and perform with the utmost effort each game, Malachi Williams ‘21 said.

“This season we really prepared and focused on the upcoming opponent,” Mr. Filippone said. “We have time to watch film with players and come together as coaches and come up with a game plan each week.”

The season brought many challenges that knocked down players and tested their mentality along the way, but each person knew that they could count on anyone on the team to be there for them.

“My team has grown very close to the point where we consider ourselves a family,” Tausaga said. “As a family, we care about each other’s personal needs. I believe firmly that they have lifted me up greatly while I was at my lowest point during this season.”

Although football is simply a sport, its lessons can crossover into the player’s daily lives, Mr. Filippone said.

“Any sport, including football, is life in a microcosm,” Mr. Filippone said. “In life there´s always goals we need to set for ourselves. We set our goals this season and learned to stick up for our teammates like he’s a brother.”

Williams, Tausaga ´21 and Lukas Otineru ‘21 have been moved up from junior varsity to varsity for playoffs starting Nov. 9.

“This season I set personal goals for myself, and as a captain on the team, I tried to play my best to encourage my teammates to play their best, and they did,” Williams said. “This helped us go undefeated this season, which was one of our goals as a team.”

Among the hardships, challenges, and obstacles, the boys grew closer together as teammates and as a family.

“I’m so lucky to have been exposed to a great group of people that I can always count on to encourage me and push me to expand my limits,” Tausaga said.