Horizon suiting up for its biggest and final battle

Horizon High’s football team walked off the field last Friday with the taste of victory. Their heads were held high as they tallied in their second consecutive win.

With only one regular season game left, the players want to bring in one more victory to set the Hawks at .500 this year and leave a lasting aftertaste for the year to come. But their final game is more than just a chance to win three in a row, it’s a chance to earn bragging rights for a year. 

It’s the Battle of the Groves. 

It’s more than just a football game. It’s the symbol of a high-stakes rivalry between neighboring high schools. Last season, the Hawks’ lost 13-7 to Windermere. The close defeat stung and lingered. It shaped how Horizon’s players are looking at the game.

Hawks running back Kaio Oliveira said the back-to-back wins help to motivate everyone more. The team hasn’t had the best season, and it’s easy to be down after a loss, but now the players have energy. Oliveira  feels they can use the momentum, the excited energy and bring it into the week.

“Everyone is going to be hype,” he said. “It’s a big game.”

Wide receiver and corner Dane St. Clair is determined to see a different outcome than the team experienced last year. 

“As soon as we lost that game, I was just waiting until we played them the next time,” St. Clair said. “That was the hardest loss of my whole football career.”

Oliveira was dealing with an injury when the teams saw each other last year and he had to watch the important moment from the sideline. This time around he’s healthy. Although the pressure is nerve-wracking, he’s excited to suit up and take the field to play against his friends. 

Oliveira’s played with many of Windermere’s players when they were growing up. His cousin plays for Windermere, and it’s special to be able to play against him, but it also heightens the intensity and the hunger to boast about the victory. He said they might be friends but when it’s game time, the relationships are different. 

“You get to talk about this game all year,” he said. “So you prepare as best as you can to go beat that team. We don’t even say their name over here at Horizon.” 

If the Hawks are one thing, it’d be persistent, St. Clair said. That’s what will fuel them against the undefeated Wolverines and that’s been the turning point for improvement this year. 

St. Clair said the players have recognized they should’ve won a few of the games they lost. Learning from those mistakes is what’s pushed the Hawks to improve at the tail end of the season. 

Last year, Horizon finished 1-9, and that’s not how the players wanted the year to go. St. Clair said it’s made them much more determined to work hard this year to make sure it didn’t repeat. Coming off a season like that is hard, Oliveira said. It’s special to see how the team has come together with motivation and focus. 

Chemistry has helped the Hawks, too. Oliveira said last season was their first time playing together, the team had a lot of freshmen on its O-line and in the wide receiver position. 

“That’s really what it is,” he said. “We’ve been playing for (one another).”

Growing older and developing as players naturally has brought a new level of experience to Horizon. 

St. Clair is a sophomore and has seen himself and the other former freshmen grow as players as they’ve become older. He’s become a more vocal player and intends to grow that skill as he continues his career. He said it helps to have good leaders on the field who encourage and push each other, like senior Oliveira. 

A LEADER 

Oliveira set a goal at the beginning of the season to reach 1,000 rushing yards. He put in the work —putting in two-a-days over the summer to hone his craft.  He works out before practice, too. 

In Horizon’s win over Davenport Friday, Oct. 24, Oliveira completed his goal. 

“Hitting that in my final year felt really good,” he said. 

His work ethic reflects the type of leader he hopes to be. Oliveira said he’s a leader by example more so than a vocal one. He shows up, gives his all and focuses on following Horizon’s motto: Practice how you play. 

The amount of work Oliveira has put in has shows on the field. The end of high school football won’t be the end of his career; he’s committed to continue football and take his talents to Army University.

There haven’t been many Horizon players to go on and play Division I football. Oliveira hopes his commitment will help the team in the long run. College coaches have watched him which causes the whole team to get more looks. 

“They can see that it’s possible for them to do the same so they strive to get better every day,” he said.