An undefeated freshman year, two playoff appearances, a district championship, and a conference championship. The Class of 2011 can check all these accomplishments off the list of things to do as a high school football team.
Ryan Thornhill, varsity football coach, said he attributes the success that the Senior Class has experienced to the fact that they have all been together since little league football and they are all really good friends outside of school.
Thornhill said the Class of 2011 has raised the bar for future senior classes because of how successful they were over the last four years.
Despite the undefeated freshmen season, Thornhill said he and the coaching staff did not push the team any harder than any other team he has coached.
“As coaches, we’re always trying to make improvements on the previous year, no matter how well you do,” Thornhill said.
Thornhill also said the class was successful because of their relentless work ethic and the camaraderie developed over years playing together.
Dante McKinney, senior, played running back and defensive back at MHS. McKinney said the team was successful because a lot of people were willing to work hard to be excellent.
Andrew Mortenson, senior, played center and defensive line. Mortenson said the reason for the success of the Senior Class was because the team had been together for so long and they were used to winning.
Mortenson said his favorite moments were beating Parkway South senior year to win Conferences and getting to spend time with the coaches and players.
Mortenson said the Senior Class definitely set the bar higher for classes to come and that he hopes a State Championship will be brought to MHS.
“Winning isn’t easy, but when you’ve done it once, it’s easier to do,” Mortenson said.
Josh Hammack, senior, played wide receiver and outside linebacker during his years at MHS. Hammack credits the success of the Senior Class to hard work, good players, good coaching and having a lot of seniors to provide leadership.
Hammack said getting an award named after himself (The Josh Hammack Heart of a Mustang Award), was not his favorite moment of his high school career. He said his favorite moment was a tie between the undefeated freshman season and beating Lafayette senior year.
Hammack also said it feels good to be part of the first teams to win Conferences and Districts at MHS.
“It’s good to know that you’re part of a special team,” Hammack said. “Hopefully we set a standard for years to come.”
