The Huskies Football Team from Fortuna High is kicking off their season tonight, and they’re bringing a special brand of football to the field.
“It’s a great opportunity to teach young men to be great people. And, you know, we put a lot of our time and energy into creating low level superheroes that are going to go out in the community and be great. The football part’s fun. But the life stuff is more important,” says head coach Mike Benbow.
They’ve been training and working hard all summer for this season.
“I think what makes us special is the fact that you’re kind of behind the redwood curtain and, you know, we have a special brand of football. we’re kind of hard-nosed kids. We are super physical and most teams outside the area do not like playing us, because we’re not afraid to get down and dirty and, you know, you just look at the past few seasons and Humboldt County has represented well at the state level,” he says.
In tonight’s game, the Huskies take on the Del Norte Warriors, but the road doesn’t stop there.
“Right now, we’re focused on Del Norte and trying to get the victory there. And then tonight at about 9: 30, 10:00, we’ll enjoy that. And then, tomorrow, we’ll start on next week’s game. And that’s against Arcata,” he says.
“As for the rest of the season, you know, Humboldt County plays a special brand of football. And we compete at the highest levels all throughout the state. I don’t see that going away. I think that someone from our area will do great things this year,” Benbow says.
We spoke with some of the Varsity players, including Senior Jake Houseworth, who just received a full ride to UC Berkeley.
“I just love the fact that we’re family. I mean, every day at practice, we’re all working together to do the same things and just great. It’s another family that I come to every day. I definitely agree with what he said. We’re not scared to get hit. We love it and it’s just great. That’s what I think makes us special,” says Jake Houseworth.
“I’ve been playing football, I started my freshman year, that was my first year. I grew up with these kids all four years, and they’ve become a family for me. And it’s just we’ve all been so close every year. We love the big crowds out here. We love it when everybody gets excited. It really helps us a lot and we’re always pumped on game day,” says Varsity player Hunter Reback.
“Yeah, you definitely have to get in the mindset before that. You know that the kids on the other side of the ball aren’t going to slow down at all, and they’re going to be playing until the end of the game. And it really just helps you get through other things in life as well, knowing that you can’t back down until it’s all the way done,” says Varsity player Chandler Crenshaw.
The season typically ends in November, but Coach Benbow says they’re taking things one game at a time.
Story by Tucker Caraway
