As the final whistle echoed across the field during the last game of the season, the sound marked more than just the end of the game. It closed a season filled with fun memories, hard work, and lessons learned.

The Plymouth JV Football team went 4-4 this season with wins against Monroe, Novi, Salem and Canton, making Plymouth the Park Champs for the JV squads The team worked hard and built team chemistry to finish the season strong winning three of their last five games of the season.

The Wildcats started off the season hot with a big win against Monroe at home, 42-24. The Cats came out hot to start the season with sophomore Noah Bravo in his first year playing football scoring two defensive touchdowns and forcing three turnovers by himself.

The sophomore running back duo of Xavier Williams, with 12 carries for 151 yards and a touchdown, and Charlie Voden, 10 carries for 122 yards and a touchdown. These star performances led the Cats to a win against Monroe.

The Cats dropped two tough games to two good opponents in Northville and Hartland after the big win against Monroe. 

Coach Styes and the team faced their first big challenge in their season by having to combine with varsity due to the team not having enough players due to injuries and sickness to play Howell.

In a bounce back game the Cats got a win against Novi winning 57-7. The team rushed over 300 yards with four interceptions on defense including a Pick-6 by defensive back Micah Turner.

After a strong week of practice the JV went on the road to a good Brighton team where Plymouth lost in a tough game but battled hard. 

The Canton rivalry game required some shifting as Canton didn’t have a freshman team for the season. The Plymouth JV and freshman teams combined and pulled out with a great win against the Cobras, winning 14-6, with freshman team player Alex Grzelak scoring a touchdown for Plymouth.

In possibly the biggest game of the season for the Wildcats, the Salem game, the Cats took the lead quickly with a first play touchdown, setting the tone for the rest of the game. The Cats had explosive plays with three touchdowns (90 yards, 64 yards, and six yards) and a 31-yard field goal from sophomore kicker Ethan Soper. 

The most important part about the season though was the team bonding and building relationships. Sophomore team captain Charlie Dziadzio, center and defensive tackle, made new friends on the team in Yahyah Hammoud and Carlos Portillo, both transfer students, who played their first season of football at Plymouth. 

Liam Korte, varsity right tackle, did not play with his fellow sophomores on JV, but he still helped the team at both practice and game days. “I was trying to help as much as I could, whether that was being like a water boy or kind of like a coach,” Korte said.

Sophomore Connor Wood, offensive and defensive lineman, said that the time spent practicing with the varsity benefited him and the team for the coaches and varsity players helped them develop as players and be ready to play on gameday.

“Coach [Derek] Hoffman and Coach [Matthew] Penn [helped my game] because they gave me great advice to be a better player,” said Wood.

But through these tough practices, leaders started to stand out, Styes said. “You look for leadership. You look for people that the kids respect,” said Salem teacher and JV Cats Head Coach Ricky Styes. “Leaders are leaders, and you want to identify those characteristics and nurture them.” 

Picking captains is an important part of the football season and means a lot to the players. But a job for the captains is to lead the team through tough times and the Cats had their fair share of tough times and faced lots of challenges. “Every football season has adversity, and we had our fair share. Our quarterback got moved up, injuries to keep players out, stuff like that. And, you know, we found a way to have a 4-4 record,” said Styes. 

Styes puts forth effort into the team. “I’m doing what I do because of the adults and teachers and coaches I’ve had in my life. So it’s, you know, a big impact on me, and I’ve been able to pay it forward through 25-plus years of doing this.”

Coach Styes has taught many lessons to the team including one to lineman Connor Wood. “The team is bigger than just yourself. Sometimes you have to let other people take bigger roles so your team can do better.” Wood said. And he also had words of advice for incoming freshmen who will be on JV next year “I would say, just listen to the coaches.” 

Through the season teams have to have players be able to step up in big moments and the Cats had many guys willing to do so. Sophomore Johnny Stiglish played quarterback for the Cats in the second half of the season despite it being his first season of football. “You know, Johnny Stiglish, big games in both of those Park games, was a big impact player for us, and he’s never played football before, and so it took him a while to get kind of acclimated to the speed and the nature of the game.” said Styes.

Styes wanted to teach the team an important lesson this season to keep with them through life. “Growth through difficulty, growth through guys being kind of thrust into different roles that they didn’t see themselves having or playing, you know, a running back having to step up and carry the ball more, a quarterback who’s never played all of a sudden playing in a game.” 

From the first whistle to the final snap, the moments add up. A football player never knows when their last game will come, so you have to appreciate each one. “[Games are] all meaningful in their own way,” said Styes.