Football is a machine of numerous components working strategically; it is strength, agility, mind and heart. On the field, the athletes train to tackle the opponent; off the field, players and coaches alike have to overcome adversities without a helmet and shoulder pads.

Undoubtedly,  Head JV Coach Keahi Cambra influenced resiliency in the team.

“Winning the JV League Championship, which is being the best record out of all the premier schools,” Cambra said, “there was nothing easy about it, it wasn’t like we just breezed through the whole season.”

Truth be told that some games seemed almost insurmountable. Players, worn down from exhaustion, kept their eyes upward still as the season progressed, being driven beyond by each win. Farther down the road, the future became unclear as “we had some setbacks, we had some tragedy,” says Cambra.

The campus community instantly reacted when hearing about player Alex Edjorian’s family house fire. “I try not to worry about it [his house fire]… so no one else worries about it,” Edjorian says. Neighboring friends and family pull together prayers and supplies in reminder of how strong communities recover better together.

The team was drawn together from the love and support of the community, to only realize how much they really needed it to overcome another tragedy.

The beginning of fall break, on Oct. 1, 15-year-old Brayden Mason was in a unfortunate accident. Mason, a young sophomore on JV football, drowned during a trip to the lake and, later on, was found after an extensive boat search.

Cambra knew his player as an integral and popular part of the team: “It was kind of gut wrenching…very emotional…a challenge for our boys to overcome.”

Remembering Mason as someone who “just touched a few lives” is an understatement; in totality, his passing changed the lives of the team forever.

“I stuck by his side through wrong and right,” Edjorian starts, “The last thing he said to me [the same day as Edjorian’s final day of rest from playing] was ‘I respect you’.”

As a coach, Cambra takes up the responsibility of his boys’ physical and emotional well being. The team continually practiced and were given chances to grieve because “many of the boys have not gone through a loss like this,” says Cambra commenting on Mason’s candle vigil honoring.

The coach continues to elaborate on the emotional healing of his boys: “ A lot of times boys aren’t allowed by society to show their emotions.”

Alongside the physical team building exercises, players form strong personal relationships. The football team, like a brotherhood, support each other like family through emotional waves.

In spite of everything, the loss of a family’s home and the loss of a family’s son, the team ended the season prevailing as the first undefeated football team since the school opening. Pulling together, football players and parents supported each other in light of the incidents.

Principal Dan Serrano said, “The hardest thing is when a student or teacher dies,” as this type of incident is not unfamiliar to the school, “When something happens like that it’s very hard… I think that was part of their drive.”