Football Feature: Hillsboro Indians
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
For Hillsboro senior linemen Zach Stacy and Todd Adkins, they just have one goal in mind as they embark of their final year of high school football … to win.
The two linemen for the Indians have a passion for the game, and starting at the varsity level is proof they work hard and have the ability to play football at a high level.
They have a passion for the game of football, which began at a young age.
"I started the game of football with my dad in the third grade," Stacy said. "I started playing in third grade and haven't missed a year since then.
"There is just a passion for the game. It's hard work, and all these guys out here have your back, and you've got to have their back. It's just the unity, it's the team and the feeling of being out here."
Adkins also spoke about his beginnings in football and why he continues to play the sport.
"Playing in Minford is my first memory of playing football," Adkins said. "Then I moved here my freshman year and have played here since.
"This is your family. I mean, some of these guys you've played with for all four years. Then you've got people who come in their freshman year, and you're with them for three years, and it's a new family every year."
As both players play a position that calls for hitting and contact each play, both Adkins and Stacy gave their viewpoint of playing in the trenches.
"It's the rough stuff up front," Adkins said. "Every play, you're always hitting somebody. You never go untouched."
"What I enjoy about it is just being in the trenches," Stacy said. "It's the hard work, it's the pushing people around, it's getting physical. It's using your body, all you got, man on man. That's what I like about it. You don't get all the glory, but it's the guts of it."
Even with the love of the game, both players, along with their teammates, battle through the two-a-day practices in the summer, and even there, that is something the players enjoy about the sport.
"It's fun for me, actually," Adkins said of the practices. "I love hitting the sled. I love popping the popsicle bag, and I love going through the shoots. I love popping somebody."
Stacy also spoke of the dedication of playing football.
"When you go at it hard every day, it's just consistent, and it beats your body down," Stacy said of football. "You've got to find a way to kick back from it. It's an ice bath every night, it's all that stuff.
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"(Football) is grueling, but you do it because you want a winning season. We want to be a family. We want to be able to come back from last season and have a good year."
Neither player hid from the fact last season wasn't that successful when it came to wins and losses. In fact, they are using it as motivation.
"I want to send Hillsboro back on the track it needs to go," Stacy said. "We've been traditionally a big football town, and we've let them down. We need to spring back from it.
"It's been a lot of hard work this year, and it has been about coming together as a family. It's hard work. We're just trying to get back on track and trying to set an example for the kids under us now."
"We've had a rough past three years at Hillsboro," Adkins said. "It's just time to break that streak."
Having a new coach in their senior year in Matt Hodge, the line spoke of the differences in the work they are doing.
"We're doing a lot of work because nobody wants to go through that (an 0-10 season) again," Stacy said. "It's not a desirable season for anybody. We're all trying to just move past that.
"It feels good to be able to be out here and push all these kids harder than we were pushed when we were younger. I like that aspect of it because I know that they're going to do it for the kids that are under them."
Adkins said it's about starting a new tradition.
"Starting new traditions, that's what it is about," Adkins said. "Coach Hodge, with the new coach change, he pushes us more than we've been pushed in the past by far. That draws us all closer together."
Stacy summed it up best.
"It's Indian pride," he said. "It's coming together as a family, and it's trying to represent all of our alumni in the way that they want to be represented.
"It's been a lot of hard work. We're ready for it to pay off."
The two linemen for the Indians have a passion for the game, and starting at the varsity level is proof they work hard and have the ability to play football at a high level.
They have a passion for the game of football, which began at a young age.
"I started the game of football with my dad in the third grade," Stacy said. "I started playing in third grade and haven't missed a year since then.
"There is just a passion for the game. It's hard work, and all these guys out here have your back, and you've got to have their back. It's just the unity, it's the team and the feeling of being out here."
Adkins also spoke about his beginnings in football and why he continues to play the sport.
"Playing in Minford is my first memory of playing football," Adkins said. "Then I moved here my freshman year and have played here since.
"This is your family. I mean, some of these guys you've played with for all four years. Then you've got people who come in their freshman year, and you're with them for three years, and it's a new family every year."
As both players play a position that calls for hitting and contact each play, both Adkins and Stacy gave their viewpoint of playing in the trenches.
"It's the rough stuff up front," Adkins said. "Every play, you're always hitting somebody. You never go untouched."
"What I enjoy about it is just being in the trenches," Stacy said. "It's the hard work, it's the pushing people around, it's getting physical. It's using your body, all you got, man on man. That's what I like about it. You don't get all the glory, but it's the guts of it."
Even with the love of the game, both players, along with their teammates, battle through the two-a-day practices in the summer, and even there, that is something the players enjoy about the sport.
"It's fun for me, actually," Adkins said of the practices. "I love hitting the sled. I love popping the popsicle bag, and I love going through the shoots. I love popping somebody."
Stacy also spoke of the dedication of playing football.
"When you go at it hard every day, it's just consistent, and it beats your body down," Stacy said of football. "You've got to find a way to kick back from it. It's an ice bath every night, it's all that stuff.
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"(Football) is grueling, but you do it because you want a winning season. We want to be a family. We want to be able to come back from last season and have a good year."
Neither player hid from the fact last season wasn't that successful when it came to wins and losses. In fact, they are using it as motivation.
"I want to send Hillsboro back on the track it needs to go," Stacy said. "We've been traditionally a big football town, and we've let them down. We need to spring back from it.
"It's been a lot of hard work this year, and it has been about coming together as a family. It's hard work. We're just trying to get back on track and trying to set an example for the kids under us now."
"We've had a rough past three years at Hillsboro," Adkins said. "It's just time to break that streak."
Having a new coach in their senior year in Matt Hodge, the line spoke of the differences in the work they are doing.
"We're doing a lot of work because nobody wants to go through that (an 0-10 season) again," Stacy said. "It's not a desirable season for anybody. We're all trying to just move past that.
"It feels good to be able to be out here and push all these kids harder than we were pushed when we were younger. I like that aspect of it because I know that they're going to do it for the kids that are under them."
Adkins said it's about starting a new tradition.
"Starting new traditions, that's what it is about," Adkins said. "Coach Hodge, with the new coach change, he pushes us more than we've been pushed in the past by far. That draws us all closer together."
Stacy summed it up best.
"It's Indian pride," he said. "It's coming together as a family, and it's trying to represent all of our alumni in the way that they want to be represented.
"It's been a lot of hard work. We're ready for it to pay off."