Football Feature: Chillicothe Cavaliers
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
Five Chillicothe seniors have been through the ups and downs of a high school football season for the past three years, playing a lot of time at the varsity level. In gaining that experience, these five, along with other teammates, are poised to make their first year back in the South Central Ohio League a season to remember.
Five seniors chosen to lead the Cavs are Ryan Milliken, Ryan Mathis, Tyler Kelley, Caylib Holt and Tyler Howard.
Along with the change in a different league, the Cavs have their newly renovated stadium, which has been a cause of excitement for the team this season.
"I'm excited about all the change because there are a lot of new pieces to the season," Howard said. "There is just a lot of excitement here. It is good to see the changes here on a daily basis because we are getting better."
"Well, I'm looking forward to the new stadium, a new year … a time to put Chillicothe football on the map," Milliken said. "We get to play a defending state champion this year, and that will be a great test."
"This year, I'm looking forward to bringing up a new tradition, bringing this four-year class to set an example," Kelley said. "We need to lead the underclassmen, make a tradition to win and have a good season this year and the following seasons after my senior year."
Holt spoke about the new competition they will face.
"I'm just looking forward to the new conference (SCOL), the new teams that we're facing and having new competition that'll be fresh."
"The new league … that's something I'm looking forward to, along with us working and trying to get to the playoffs … that's the goal," Mathis said.
Last season, the Cavaliers finished the season by winning three of their final four games, which has helped motivate the seniors this year.
"It helps a lot, ending the season with wins, because then you just start right where you left off. The momentum carries over," Milliken said.
"Winning late in the season sure does help with the momentum carrying into this season," Mathis said.
Kelley said his teammates have worked hard this offseason.
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"This winter, we had a lot of returning players come and work out, so we were looking forward to how we have a lot of players coming up and wanting to be playing this year," he said. "How our season ended last year really impacted us to do better this year."
Holt also spoke about the motivation.
"Last year, we didn't really have that motivation and drive that we do now," he said. "This year, we know we have a goal for something, so we have that motivation this year."
Still, this season has change all around it, as the players spoke about playing in the SCOL for the first time in their careers.
"It's a little bit different, but it's exciting … more than nerves about playing new teams," Milliken said. "You finally get to see some new teams in there, so it's going to be interesting."
"I'm just looking forward to playing these new teams, seeing what we can do," Mathis said.
"Playing these teams from our old league over and over again, ever since we were in middle school … I'm really kind of excited for jumping into a new league," Kelley said. "We can finally get some more new offensive personnel and new defensive personnel that we can fight off."
But these players take being a leader seriously, and they spoke of having the responsibility of leading the Cavalier program.
"As the quarterback, I've got to lead the offense," Mathis said. "Everything trickles down from the quarterback. It just depends on if the quarterback has a good attitude on things, [then] usually the offense is going to have a good attitude on things. I try to be a good leader in that sense to get the offense going."
"I want to do the right things all the time, on or off the field," Milliken said. "It's about setting the example for everyone else on the team."
"A leader, for me, would just be being a good role model on and off the field and showing people what true Cavalier spirit is," Holt said. "Also, it's inspiring your buddies on the field when times get rough."
Kelley and Howard gave their views on what a leader is.
"Being a leader really makes you think," Kelley said. "You have to put others before you, as an individual. You want to bring everyone together and make them stand strong and not worry and not back down. You just want them to keep going on and keep them headstrong."
"I enjoy being a senior and doing whatever I can to help this team be successful," Howard said. "It is about putting the team above being an individual."
Five seniors chosen to lead the Cavs are Ryan Milliken, Ryan Mathis, Tyler Kelley, Caylib Holt and Tyler Howard.
Along with the change in a different league, the Cavs have their newly renovated stadium, which has been a cause of excitement for the team this season.
"I'm excited about all the change because there are a lot of new pieces to the season," Howard said. "There is just a lot of excitement here. It is good to see the changes here on a daily basis because we are getting better."
"Well, I'm looking forward to the new stadium, a new year … a time to put Chillicothe football on the map," Milliken said. "We get to play a defending state champion this year, and that will be a great test."
"This year, I'm looking forward to bringing up a new tradition, bringing this four-year class to set an example," Kelley said. "We need to lead the underclassmen, make a tradition to win and have a good season this year and the following seasons after my senior year."
Holt spoke about the new competition they will face.
"I'm just looking forward to the new conference (SCOL), the new teams that we're facing and having new competition that'll be fresh."
"The new league … that's something I'm looking forward to, along with us working and trying to get to the playoffs … that's the goal," Mathis said.
Last season, the Cavaliers finished the season by winning three of their final four games, which has helped motivate the seniors this year.
"It helps a lot, ending the season with wins, because then you just start right where you left off. The momentum carries over," Milliken said.
"Winning late in the season sure does help with the momentum carrying into this season," Mathis said.
Kelley said his teammates have worked hard this offseason.
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"This winter, we had a lot of returning players come and work out, so we were looking forward to how we have a lot of players coming up and wanting to be playing this year," he said. "How our season ended last year really impacted us to do better this year."
Holt also spoke about the motivation.
"Last year, we didn't really have that motivation and drive that we do now," he said. "This year, we know we have a goal for something, so we have that motivation this year."
Still, this season has change all around it, as the players spoke about playing in the SCOL for the first time in their careers.
"It's a little bit different, but it's exciting … more than nerves about playing new teams," Milliken said. "You finally get to see some new teams in there, so it's going to be interesting."
"I'm just looking forward to playing these new teams, seeing what we can do," Mathis said.
"Playing these teams from our old league over and over again, ever since we were in middle school … I'm really kind of excited for jumping into a new league," Kelley said. "We can finally get some more new offensive personnel and new defensive personnel that we can fight off."
But these players take being a leader seriously, and they spoke of having the responsibility of leading the Cavalier program.
"As the quarterback, I've got to lead the offense," Mathis said. "Everything trickles down from the quarterback. It just depends on if the quarterback has a good attitude on things, [then] usually the offense is going to have a good attitude on things. I try to be a good leader in that sense to get the offense going."
"I want to do the right things all the time, on or off the field," Milliken said. "It's about setting the example for everyone else on the team."
"A leader, for me, would just be being a good role model on and off the field and showing people what true Cavalier spirit is," Holt said. "Also, it's inspiring your buddies on the field when times get rough."
Kelley and Howard gave their views on what a leader is.
"Being a leader really makes you think," Kelley said. "You have to put others before you, as an individual. You want to bring everyone together and make them stand strong and not worry and not back down. You just want them to keep going on and keep them headstrong."
"I enjoy being a senior and doing whatever I can to help this team be successful," Howard said. "It is about putting the team above being an individual."