[ccfic caption-text format="plaintext"]
By Mike Flanagan
Hometown Weekly Sports Editor
In 2018, a 5-2 regular season record earned Walpole High football the No. 2 seed in Division III South. The Rebels rolled passed Plymouth North (27-7) before eventually falling to No. 3 Hingham (30-19) in the sectional semifinals, followed by a tough 35-14 loss to Weymouth on Thanksgiving.
Ending your season with consecutive defeats and snapping a six-year winning streak on Thanksgiving is anything but the way Walpole High football hoped last year would go. With the past in the past, the Rebels enter 2019 ready and motivated to put those memories to bed and make new ones - much better ones.
Leading the Rebels in 2019 will be a duo of senior co-captains in quarterback Will Jarvis and wideout/defensive back Drew Von Klock, both of whom are returning starters who served as the focal points of the Walpole offense last season.
“Our expectations this year really have not changed from last year,” said Jarvis when asked about his team’s general goals. “We want to have a strong regular season, and make a deep run in the playoffs, and honestly anything short of a state title would be a disappointment.”
As for avenging last year’s tough finish, Jarvis says that he and his teammates obviously look to right some wrongs. However, the goal of getting better every day and coming together as a family is the top priority.
“Last year, we started the season great, but we didn’t exactly finish the way we would have liked,” said Jarvis. “We did win a few big games [against Wellesley, Needham and Braintree] last year, and we hope to just build on those successes this year. We did lose some key players from last year, but we have a lot of young talent that we think will step up and fill those gaps.”
Walpole kicks off its season on September 6 against rival Norwood.
For funny and insightful sports analysis, follow Mike Flanagan on his personal Twitter @fLAno0.
