Wearing the proud blue and gold jerseys down the hall, stepping onto the field of a screaming students and seeing the Friday night lights fill the stadium is what many of these football players live for. Ask any player: there is nothing like throwing on that jersey and stepping onto the field every Friday night. However, three seniors won’t be able to relive the game day feeling.

“I am done for the rest of my life. If I could pick the lowest point in high school, it would be that moment knowing I won’t ever play again; it was emotionally devastating,” former free safety Truman Shumway said.

After being spared in the side of the head at the first scrimmage of the year, Shumway faced his fifth concussion. Doctors advised it would be best for him to quit football, not even being able to play the first game of his senior year.

“You put so much time into something, and just like that it can all be gone in an instant. It didn’t hit me until the day of the kickoff; Cory and I cried in the locker room, out onto the field and all through the first quarter,” Shumway said.

Former sideline backer, Cory Barbour, was faced with the same news after tearing his ACL for the second time during the summer of his senior year. Just as he was training for the upcoming season, his knee gave out, after undergoing two surgeries, Barbour was finished.

“My last game was against Southeast my junior year and I didn’t even make it to half-time. After my knee gave out on me again, my senior year was finished before it even began,” Barbour said.

Just like the other seniors, Barbour misses the unique bond the players have.

“It’s really hard seeing my team play out there, [football] has been taken away from me two years in a row. I miss the brotherhood of the team. Football just has this kind of bond, unlike any other bond,” Barbour said.

Cornerback Brylan Donaldson, who has missed the opening games of the season after snapping his leg during a practice session four days after school was released, will hopefully be back on the field in a few weeks.

“It makes me happy seeing the team working hard for people like me, Cory and Truman. I miss grinding with the team everyday for a purpose. Everyone from the coaches down to the teammates believe we can win at state,” Donaldson said.

Fearing that he wouldn’t play again, Donaldson is eager to get back on the field and get straight to work.

“You can hold me to it, we will be playing at Yager Stadium Thanksgiving weekend,” Donaldson said.

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Words by Amanda Johnson|Sports Editor