During high school football season, wins and losses can sometimes seem like the only thing that matters. That is, until you try to tell that to the Wilby Wildcats.
"Honestly don’t really think about it,” said Wilby football head coach LaMar Kennedy. “We don't talk about it much around here."
It’s not that they don’t talk about winning and losing, it’s that they don’t talk about their losses. All 31 straight – they haven’t won a game since Thanksgiving of 2014.
"It pushes us harder,” said senior defensive end and center Stefon Morris. “All the underclassmen want to get us a win, we want to get us a win. It helps us fight."
So there’s the fight to make history, but there’s also a different battle.
"I lost my starting guard and d-end to a job,” Kennedy said. “You know, I gave him a great letter of recommendation and a great reference but it’s hard."
Kennedy says players coming from different socioeconomic backgrounds means forgiving missed practices and missed starts, but never a missed opportunity.
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"It’s not just about football,” said Kennedy, who adds that he knows Wilby isn’t the only program facing these challenges. “It’s about life and it’s about transitioning kids into that next level.”
And that’s Wilby’s winning record.
"These are the guys who kept coming back and the guys who want to work hard and the guys who believe in the coaching staff when nobody else did,” said Kennedy. “You know these guys are going to give us their all, they're going to work hard and we're just going to try to keep pushing forward."
