West Orange Times: Sports Spotlight — Elijah Post

Elijah Post may only be going into his second year of varsity football, but the senior has become a go-to player on head coach Trent Hopper’s Legacy football team. Last season, Post led the team in receiving with 491 yards, while grabbing four touchdowns (tied for second best). 

When did you first start playing football?

Last year was my first year. In ninth and 10th grade … I played basketball, and most of the basketball players play football and they were like, “You should play football,” but I was never interested. So in my sophomore year I played spring football and I liked it, so I decided to play my junior year and loved it.

What’s the hardest part of playing wide receiver?

I feel like the hardest part is remembering all the plays — that can be difficult sometimes — and just not getting tired. 

What’s your favorite part about playing at wide receiver?

I like getting the ball and being able to run the ball — catching passes and scoring.

What has been your favorite part about playing football at Legacy?

Getting to know a lot of the freshmen and sophomores, and all the new kids that come and play, because I only have classes with all the seniors. It’s nice getting to know everybody else.

The regular season starts this week — how are you feeling about that?

I’m feeling pretty good. We had a few big pieces that we lost to graduation last year or moving to new schools, but I’m feeling pretty confident. I think we had a few spots that needed to be filled, but I think we are filling them pretty nicely and quickly.

What would you say are the best words of advice you’ve been given about football?

During a game or during a practice, staying focused, because there are so many little things throughout the team that have to be executed for a play to work. I just feel like everybody staying focused — locked into the play, locked into the game — is very important.

How do you prepare for a game?

Usually the night before I’ll watch a little bit of film on the other team. And then usually after school I don’t do anything too crazy — I’ll probably just watch a little more just to make sure I know what I’m expecting from them, and then go over our playbook to make sure I know what I’m doing there.

This is your last year of sports at Legacy, so how are you feeling about that?

I’ve been playing sports for so long … so it’s just kind of weird and I haven’t really wrapped my mind around it yet. It’s really weird to think about that the things that I’ve been doing for my whole life (are) done.

When you get free time outside of football and school, what do you like to do?

During football season, other than football and school, I’m probably sleeping. I’m so tired after school, football and homework, so by the time it’s 8 o’clock I watch TV — nothing crazy. On the weekends I’ll hang out with my friends.