We asked two young men, Damarcus Allen and Junior Kabela of Arlington Sam Houston, what it’s like to be done with football. Here’s what they said.
Damarcus Allen
This year’s football season as a whole wasn’t what we, as seniors, expected. We fought in all of our games to try and make it out on top but couldn’t quite get there. Me, as an individual, I couldn’t have been happier than to play football under Sam Houston’s coaching staff. They motivated us to not give up when adversity came, and it did come. Sometimes we prevailed, and it turned out good. Because of them, I can say that I came in to Sam Houston as a kid and will be leaving as a mature adult going to college.
When I played my very last game, I thought about all of my other seasons and all of the times I had a chance to be better. I kept thinking, “If I would have just been able to drive a little further, keep my feet moving to break a tackle, or make that tough catch to give us a first down…” It really hurt realizing that it would be my last game as a senior and that all the hard work I’d put in was finally coming to an end. I kept having the thoughts of knowing that I could have performed better. I went out with the mentality that every ball was mine and that no one man could bring me down. I came out with a confidence that pulled me on top of others. I reminded myself not get down when a bad play happened. That’s something I else I learned at Sam Houston. Coaches here taught me that everyone makes mistakes, but if you make the mistake, make it full speed and find work.
Although it was my last time playing football in a Sam Houston jersey, I knew that because of all the hard work I put in over the off-season and throughout the regular season, my coaches would do their best to get me out of Arlington and have me playing and furthering my education somewhere in college.
Seeing next year’s seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshmen go through off season is tough. It makes me want to go out, put in the work, and better myself. It makes me feel like if I had just one more year, I know I would be a better athlete.
Knowing what I do now as a high school student and an athlete, I know it all starts and has to come to end. If I was to give any words of advice to the underclassmen who are coming up, I’d say to them to make sure they start off in the classroom right and put in the work on the field because in the long run, the work that you’re putting in now will get you somewhere rather than waiting and just wishing you would have done something or changed an event in your past.
Junior Kabela
This year was a memorable year, I’ve gotten to cherish the moments I’ve made with my brothers from the beginning to the end. Not only would I like to cherish the moments with my brothers, I would like to honor the mentorship, the assistance, the encouragement , and the leadership I’ve gotten from my coaches.
At times we were hopeless my coaches gave us hope, and even though this season didn’t go how we expected we were still coached hard and we still finished hard throughout the season. In the majority of the games I’ve played in this year we highly focused on attitude, effort and execution offensively and defensively.
On Friday nights when my team and I actually went out there and executed the plays, had a great attitude, and gave out 100% of the effort, no team could’ve stopped us on the field. Then there would be times we would give out 50% of the effort, barely executing the plays, and have despicable attitudes which caused us not to win games. If my team and I would’ve put in more effort, executed every play, and gave out 100% of the effort every game, I promise you we would’ve been in playoffs by now.
The reality is we aren’t, and we can’t take that back. Despite not going to playoffs, I’ve had a tremendous season at Sam Houston High School wearing this red helmet and being coached by some of the best coaching staff in the state of Texas.
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