AIC Football: Season reflections, looking forward to 2018

AIC+Football%3A+Season+reflections%2C+looking+forward+to+2018

Naahman Gumbs, Staff Writer

Throughout the football season this year it was a huge downfall for the AIC Yellow Jackets. They finished the 2017 season with a record of 2-9 which was really unexpected.

When a couple of the players were interviewed before the season, they all explained how they expected a good season and how they thought everything was going to run smoothly.

The team lost the first two games of the season, before a two game winning streak in which things started to look bright, before losing out the rest of the season.

With the 2017 season in the books, the YJ interviewed three players on the football team – Miquin Davis, Malik Andrews, and Rob Skinner – in regards to how the season went, and why they think the season went how it went.

Throughout the three interviews they all had similar thoughts and responses – they all said how there was no leadership on the team and how the players tended to get frustrated and quit on the field.

Davis is a defensive back and a freshman at AIC. He started practicing around the fourth week of the season due to his car accident he was in.

Even though he was a redshirt this year, he explained the bad points he noticed during practice.

“Some of the kids were coming to practice when they want, and weren’t getting punished for it,” said Davis.

He explained how this showed the slack of some the players and how they didn’t really care for the game.

What does Davis think can be improved from a coaching aspect?

He explained how the coaches should have been harder on the players because of the fact that a lot of the players on the team were trying to take advantage by coming whenever they want and not attending lift in the morning.

Andrews plays tight end and is a senior for the Yellow Jackets. He discussed how in preseason most of the players were working hard and how he thought he was going to have a successful season.

“A lot of people folded and gave up in the second half when we were down,” said Andrews. He also explained how they would always come out strong but things would just happen, and how stupid mistakes were always occuring most of the time on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.

Defensive back Skinner is a senior for AIC. He commented on the defense this past season.

“We capitilized on a lot of teams, we worked very hard in practice and we showed that,” Skinner said.

As for the team’s problems, he explained that it was both sides of the ball, mostly the offense.

“It’s only so long we can hold for,” said Skinner.

In the end, it looks like the common theme was a lot of mistakes that occurred, according to the players interviewed.