“Jeremiah Hernandez tackled by the entire team.”

When those words came out from the announcer, the crowd clearly witnessed how hard our Toilers battled against Jefferson High during the Homecoming game at the Coliseum on October 21, 2021. 

If you were in the audience, your eyes were treated to a spectacular view of about 10 Democrat football players (as if huddled) attempting to bring down one brave and strong Toiler – Jeremiah Hernandez. For about 5 seconds, all you saw was a ball of green players being pulled by one Toiler for a few yards. From the stands, it looked extraordinary. The scoreboard, whose last numbers regrettably read 40 and 14, meant nothing compared to the perseverance displayed by the entire Toiler team. To fully appreciate that moment, you had to be there at the Coliseum. 

“I lost my voice because I kept cheering them on that day,” says Jonathan Mejia, a senior at Manual Arts High School, “and I didn’t feel alone hanging out with everyone at THE Coliseum.” 

Attending the game felt like being part of an experience that only happens once in your life. There were siblings, classmates, fathers, mothers, grandparents, teachers and administrators all gathered in that enormous sports arena. They had one mission: to support our football team no matter what.

“We fought for Manual Arts,” said Jeremiah Hernandez, “and we appreciate the support from our fans. I have high hopes for our team.” 

Team member Ty’Yon Wingate is also hopeful. 

“I’m in the 9th grade right now, and I know my body is going to get stronger,” says Wingate, “when you lose, you have to tell yourself to get better.” 

And the team will get better. Coach Horn has a lot of experience in building a strong football team. Often, you will hear Coach Horn say that you must work hard and play hard. 

As far as improvements, Jeremiah Hernandez advises the team to work on building the chemistry. 

“We have to work together, and come to practice everyday,” says Jeremiah. 

Playing football, or any other sport, is like the experience of school and life. A team learns how to work together no matter our different backgrounds much like working in collaboration groups in class. Sometimes we make As. Sometimes we make Cs. And yes, sometimes we Fail. But that low grade should never prevent us from continuing the challenging path toward graduation, landing a job, or even reaching a goal like getting your driver’s license. 

So whenever you fail at something, let’s listen to what our proud Toiler football players tell themselves:

“We have to come back,” says Dominique Lamb. 

Jayden Urbina says, “get better and move on.”

“Just get better for the next one,” says Ezekiel Belote.

As Noe Reyes simply puts it, we need each other, but “no one motivates you better than yourself.” So let’s learn from our brave football team. The team works hard on our field; they worked hard at the Coliseum. And we thank them for making it such a memorable moment. Our football team is proving what it means to be a Toiler: a hard-worker, a non-stopper, and a go-getter!