This story was updated on Thursday, Oct. 24, with quotes from the head football coach.
A new head football coach.
A new league with five other schools.
A new scheme on offense.
The 2024-2025 Lancer football team had to endure such changes to secure its first win of the season — a 33-3 blowout of visiting Valencia High School on Friday, Oct. 18.
And it also came on the last home game of the year, billed as senior night, in which parents, friends and family honored the graduating 12th-graders on the team.
“Every senior had family out there to play for and to represent alongside our student section being louder than ever,” said junior George Shelledy, co-captain and running back who scored one touchdown and ran for 206 yards.
Shelledy said this win also makes up for what happened on senior night last season.
“I feel that our team played very well together, and we made minimal mistakes during the game,” he said. “I definitely had a stronger sense of winning for the seniors, considering last year’s loss on senior night and ending our season short.”
In his first year as head football coach, Frederick Gambrell acknowledged the obstacles that his players had to overcome to seal the victory.
“First, this season has been a process of installing a new offense and learning what it takes to win football games,” Gambrell said. “Second, our players have constantly battled through adversity all season, and Friday’s win was a result of their courage, tenacity and faith over fear.
“As a team, we have talked about character matters when facing adversity and what you do during moments of adversity matters. Our team showed this on Friday night.”
Heading into the game, the intense pressure of coming away with its first game in the “W” column motivated the players to step onto the field and feel a stronger urge to win, wide receiver and free safety junior Pierrce Sandle said.
“I felt very confident with my team,” Sandle said. “I was thinking about the fact that it was senior night, so we can’t lose another game if we want to make it to the playoffs.”
Other players noted some of the seniors who were willing to tough it out for the team against Valencia (3-5).
“Despite barely practicing through the week because of a hurt shoulder, [senior] Felipe Ko started and played almost the whole game before hurting his shoulder again,” middle linebacker and tight end sophomore McAnthony De Castro said. “This showed his dedication to football and the team.”
Before the start of the game, the team also felt a sense of confidence in the results.
“We had a really good week of practice, so I expected us to win,” co-captain slot receiver and cornerback senior Grant Rabe said. “A lot of our players were really locked in for this game, especially since it was senior night.”
Valencia actually struck first, taking an early 3-0 lead in the first quarter, but that did not deter the team’s motivation.
At the start of the ensuing kickoff, Sandle observed that the opposing team was positioned directly across from him, which he then informed the other kick returning player that the ball was likely to be directed to him.
Although his prediction proved to be incorrect, the ball landed perfectly in front of Sandle, who then ran to the outside and successfully scored a touchdown.
Soon after, teammate Nathan Robinson scored a point-after-try, making the score 7-3.
The SH defense then kept forcing turnovers, and the offense capitalized on them and scored on those drives, co-captain outside linebacker Ko said.
“I felt so good, and it felt good to feel like this after all our hard work finally paid off,” he said
By the end of the third quarter, the Lancers were up 30-3, clinching their first victory.
“As the game continued to go, we just felt better and better, especially because we were up the whole time,” Rabe said. “When we got the kick return for a touchdown, I knew it was just going to be uphill for us from there, like it was just going to go super smoothly from that.”
The Lancers will continue their season against winless Fullerton Union High School in an away game Friday, Oct. 25. It will also be the Tribe’s homecoming affair.
