Era benefitting from JV team

Jun. 21—Building a football program takes more than calling plays on Friday nights.

Before Terry Felderhoff was named Era's new coach in 2020, the Hornets hadn't had a junior varsity. There weren't enough high schoolers interested in playing to field a second team.

Since then, Era has played two JV seasons. Felderhoff said being able to give the underclassmen a chance to play has been important for the overall program.

"The kids want to play," Felderhoff said. "If you're a freshman, and you're just having to go out and go through varsity practice without the reward of playing your own game on Thursday night or maybe not even a play or two here on Friday, it's just tough... Having a JV and them getting that experience is just huge, because otherwise, all of a sudden, they're a sophomore or junior, and they've been standing and watching a lot for the last two years."

Era saw a jump in the number of football players Felderhoff's first summer in charge. He said some of that is due to Era having more students, but he thinks having a JV team helped encourage kids who weren't sure about playing to go ahead and sign up.

Era junior Jayden Lira was a freshman on the first JV team. He said having a JV team has helped him and others get more game experience.

"Playing more just prepares you for the varsity instead of just sitting on the sideline having one team," Lira said.

Lira also said having more people showing up to workouts and practice makes it easier to work hard.

This year's seniors will be the last group to have not had a JV team as an option their freshman year. The juniors and sophomores had that option, and Felderhoff said he is already noticing a difference.

"There's no doubt," Felderhoff said. "The first year especially, they may have been sophomores, juniors, seniors, but they may not have had a whole lot of experience, so everything's new, the speed of the game and everything. There's a huge difference obviously between JV and varsity, but to get to your sophomore year not having any game experience, that's (no good)."

So far this summer, the Hornets have had around 40-45 high school boys showing up to workouts each day, including around 30-35 high school football players. Around 15 junior high boys have also participated.

Felderhoff said the workouts have gone well thus far.

"Kids are showing up to work hard," Felderhoff said. "There's definitely improvement being made, especially if you look back where we were a year ago, and especially two years ago. It's amazing how far these guys have come in a couple years. Still got plenty of work to do just like anybody else, but it's been going good, and extremely, extremely happy with the attendance."

Felderhoff said he feels good about the future of Era football.

"We're heading in the right direction, no doubt," Felderhoff said. "It just takes time... Our kids are working hard."