With a resounding cheer, the WA crowd watching the football game against Chelmsford enthusiastically celebrates the team’s win. The elated spark in the air is a far cry from the somber atmosphere caused by the team’s many defeats at the beginning of the 2014-15 football season.

However, toward the end of the previous year’s season, the team started winning games and began to make up for their slow start, pulling their total game score up to five wins and six losses. This positive trend has continued into this year, and so far, they have already won their first and second game against Dracut and Chelmsford respectively.

Co-Captain senior Nick Diamond attributes this winning streak to the experience of this year’s players.

“Last year, it was a lot more figuring out [because] we had a lot of new players. […] This year we had a lot of returners who had game experience, so it was more fine tuning rather than figuring it out,” he said.

Additionally, the team’s dynamic has assisted them in working together.

“This year, we’re more close […] and more of a family. We have a good chemistry going,” said Co-Captain senior Charlie Barnas.

Despite there being fewer seniors on this year’s team compared to last year, most of those seniors have been a part of the team since their freshman year, and many played football together before the start of high school.

“A lot of us played youth football together, so we’ve known each other since even before high school […] It’s like a bunch of best friends playing football together,” said Diamond.

Though two-thirds of the team consists of juniors and sophomores, the team’s close-knit dynamic is not affected.

“I don’t think about the age difference at all […] We’re all high school kids, and we’re all playing football,” said Diamond.

Besides the player aspect of the team, Barnas also attributes part of their success to their coach, Adam Gagne. When Gagne became the coach, the current group of seniors were sophomores; this year, they are going on their third year working with him.

“The past couple years, [the team] has only [worked with him] for one or two years. We’ve had him for all three, and got to know him the [best],” said Barnas.

New techniques are also being used during football practice to improve the team’s play, such as usage of the new drone. With the footage taken with the drone, the team is able to view games and practices and improve upon them.

“It provides a whole new angle on things. We can see the routes, and the wide-receivers run better. That’s how we draw plays, from that view, directly above,” said Barnas. “It’s been very helpful.”

The win against Chelmsford High School has been the most recent proof of the football team’s improvement, as it is the first time WA football has ever beaten them.

“For me, I’ve been playing football since first grade and never [beat] them. That was the first time we beat them in WA history, but never beating them my whole life, and my last chance as a senior [and we] finally did it. I was […] in shock after the game. It was probably the best football moment I’ve ever had,” said Diamond.

However, even with the strong start to the season, Gagne cautions against taking success for granted.

“The senior leadership has been outstanding since day 1 of the off-season, [and] we have had some early success, but have some tough opponents ahead of us. We need to continue to stay focused and take things day by day,” he said.

However, the captains feel that with proper practice and the correct attitude, the team will go far.

“I think we have so much momentum right now […] This is really going to be a special year, I think, and I’ve been saying that since the beginning,” said Diamond. “I think we have a winning attitude.”

The football team’s next game is away against Lincoln-Sudbury on October 2nd.