Many sports tend to rely on their more experienced and capable players, which in most cases tend to be the seniors, but what happens after a season is spent leaning on the players who are going to graduate in just a few months? 

Will a team be able to recover and continue the following season after losing some of the players who carried the team in the past season?

Currently, the Chapman High School football team is experiencing that scenario.

The players say they are not terribly worried.

“It’s really not that big of a deal because we saw this coming, and we started the rebuilding process last season, and the seniors this season have really stepped up,” said senior football player Abe Fyffe. 

One of the most difficult parts must be not just losing seniors but losing so many core positions and having to find ways to replace all of the players who have been in that spot for so many years. 

“We’ve got to have the younger people step up and fill the roles,” said senior football player Jack Settle. “We are, however, having some struggles, but we are working through it.”

The struggles include a 13-7 overtime loss to Woodruff during week 1. 

“We just got to step up on the offensive side and work out all the little tweaks. We have to come back and Byrnes and show y’all what’s up because our crown did not get taken away from 3A, and we are still Chapman and still hold that legacy,” said Fyffe. 

Despite the challenges that have been thrown their way this year and the challenges that they are getting ready to face as the season goes on, the football team is still optimistic as they move forward. 

“I think we are going to have a good shot. We just need to trust each other and do what we need to do,” said Settle.

Fyffe also believes that the team has a chance to succeed:

“Realistically, I think we are going to go really far. The team has great chemistry, and we have a lot of potential. This is our chance to show the work we have put in pays off.”