PULASKI, Wis. (WFRV) – 70 in April. Sometimes, you can’t beat Wisconsin weather. What high school athletes can’t beat is the crack of football pads echoing across a football field as the Red Raiders football team prepares for its third game of the abbreviated spring season.
“We really didn’t know how that first game was going to go,” Pulaski head football coach Jerard Marsh said. “Usually we have a longer preseason to prepare and we went from not going to school to having two weeks and then playing a game.”
The Red Raiders are 1-1 so far on the season, beating Ashwaubenon and falling to Kimberly. While the players know they aren’t where they want to be, confidence is high.
“We’re just so happy to be on the field,” Pulaski senior Bo Bramschreiber said. “We know we have some things to clean up, but we’ll be there by the end of the year.”
His teammates have the same mindset.
“We’re going to make the mini playoffs,” senior Joseph O’Leary said. “It would mean a lot to us if we could win those two playoff games. Especially to the seniors.”
Despite there not being a traditional state playoffs, the team in general just has more of an appreciation for the game they love so dearly, coaches and players alike.
“When you get something taken away, its hard not to leave it all out on the field,” Marsh said. “These kids had to prepare not only physically, but mentally, emotionally as well. They play for each other and you see that each time they take the field.”
