JV Football bonds despite several losses this season (11/08)

By Shelly Tong

Nov. 17, 2008

This season, the JV football team has learned that a team’s worth has little to do with the number of its victories.     Though they only won two out of six games this season, the Cardinals still soar.
   The Cardinals lost to the Mission Bears 12-26 on Nov. 7. They were leading by a touchdown until the second half, when the Bears stepped it up and showed how much they wanted the win. The Cardinals were not discouraged, however. “Since the season’s almost over, the whole team is just looking towards to the Lincoln game,” sophomore fullback and linebacker CeeJay Silvestre said.
   To anyone who didn’t go to the Oct. 31 game against Thurgood Marshall, it would seem that the team lost 26-46. But though that was the final score, the team cannot be considered losers by any means. After the first half of the game that fell upon one of the gloomiest days of the year, Marshall was leading 20-0. At halftime, the team’s morale was down and coach Ken Jew gave the team the option of letting the second stringers play or trying their hardest with the starters, because Marshall had upperclassmen on their JV team.
   The sun came out at the end of halftime, and the team took it as a positive sign, going back into the game with new inspiration. The Cardinals caught up, scoring 20 points in a straight shot by getting three on-side kicks in a row. Though the final score came out to be 26-46, none of the players were too disappointed because they found their own victory within defeat. This game was pivotal in bringing the team closer together and helping them understand that anything can happen in football and that the game isn’t just about winning.
   The Cardinals also won 20-14 against Galileo High School on Oct. 23. In the first half of the game, Silvestre and sophomore wingback Yuriy Torchiyan both scored touchdowns. The score held at 12-6 with the team in the lead until the fourth quarter, when Galileo ran in a two-point conversion and scored a touchdown with a minute and 30 seconds left on the clock before the game ended, making the score 12-14. Everyone thought the game was over, but with 40 seconds left on the clock, sophomore quarterback Jordan Lee threw the ball to freshman tight end Daniel Maionchi who scored a touchdown. After that, Torchiyan ran in a two-point conversion, bringing the score to 16-14.
Sophomore running back Calvin Ma described the game as a huge turning point for the team. After the win, the team was ecstatic. “I felt almost heavenly,” Maionchi said. “Before this game, we weren’t really a team and we were unsure about whether we’d all do our jobs, but now we’re working together and we can really call ourselves a team.”
   Torchiyan said that he was proud of the defensive line for holding the entire game. He felt that a lot of players improved. “This game changed the way we practice and play,” he said. “I’m proud we won our first home game.”
   Silvestre also said the game was good for the team’s confidence. The win meant something special to the returning sophomores. “Gal is the only team we lost to last year so winning against them was really important to us personally,” he said.
   The win followed a 6-33 loss to Washington in the Battle of the Birds on Oct. 9. Though they kept up with the Eagles during the first half of the game, with Torchiyan running 80 yards and sophomore Silvestre following through with a 5-yard touchdown, the team was exhausted and defeated after halftime, and losing their previous 6-8 score.
   This crushing loss was hard to bear after the team’s recent 26-8 victory against Burton on Oct. 2, only seven days before Battle of the Birds. The sweetness of this victory was even greater, as the preseason games before the victory were also devastating losses — 0-60 against Liberty on Sept. 20 and 8-54 against Menlo on Sept. 26.
   The team has come a long way since their first few games. They have learned many lessons and built a real team from the ground up. They began the season as a disconnected group of boys with only a love for football, but they are ending it as a family. “We’ve improved a lot since the first game,” Silvestre said. “We trust each other more and our team bond is stronger because we’ve spent more time together.”
   The greatest lesson they have learned as a team this season is resilience. “The game’s not about who’s losing or who’s better,” Ma said. “It’s about playing your hardest until time runs out. It doesn’t matter who was best before, it’s about playing in the moment.”
   They are looking forward to playing their last game together as a team. “Since it’s going to be the last game of the season, we’re all willing to put our lives on the line for this win,” Silvestre said. “It’s the biggest game of the season and the whole team really wants (to win) this.”
   Come support the team at 2 p.m today at Lowell against Lincoln.
MVP
    The Lowell’s choice for MVP this season is sophomore running-back Yuriy Torchiyan. Ma described him as the guy with the “biggest heart and greatest attitude as well as great leadership skills.” Torchiyan hates to lose just as much as the rest of his teammates, but instead of staying upset about it, he gets over it quickly and learns from his mistakes. He is both fast and strong and therefore one of the best players on the team. He is a great example of hard work because he practiced hard over the summer and has improved a great deal

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