*Elijah is coming off a football season in which he led the Huntsmen to a 5-5 record while throwing for 2,158 yards and scoring a total of 33 touchdowns. He now serves as Huntington’s point guard, where he’s a key piece in the program’s resurgence. These are his thoughts on this past fall, what he expects during basketball season and what the future holds:
I plan for my senior year to be the best yet, whether that’s on the field and court or off.
Since football is over for me in high school, I’ve taken some time to reflect on what I’ve accomplished this football season, and as I think of the individual things, such as co- Offensive Back of the Year, first-team all-district and third-team All-Ohio, I can say I’m proud of myself.
But that, to me, doesn’t matter.
Did I have goals? Yes of course. I wanted to be the best. But I just wanted what’s best for my team and my community. As I reflect, what I’m most proud of is the relationships that I have made with people, whether that’s teammates, coaches, opposing team and coaches, or community members.
This year the Huntsmen went 5-5 and it wasn’t our goal to be .500. But that’s the way it turned out. You look at the program’s tradition and it only being coach [Scott] Keller’s second year … it wasn’t a bad year.
I see nothing but a bright future for our football program. It’s in very good hands.
High school football has taught me a lot about life … lessons that I’ll never forget to use in this world. I will for sure miss football in the TWP with the best fans in the league.
So far, this basketball season hasn’t went as planned. We’ve faced a lot of adversity from the start of the season, but now the pieces are starting to come together with everybody back and everybody healthy. I feel we can compete with anybody on our schedule.
I will expect our team to go out there every night and give that other team a fight, no matter what. You can also expect, when you play on our court, great fan support and a great student section to have our back the whole time.
I have no idea on where I’m going to college at or what sport I’m going to play, or even if I will play a sport. But I plan on becoming a teacher or physical therapist and coming back to the TWP, coaching football and leading them to a state final.
I’m truly blessed with the family and friend support I have. Thank you Huntington High School for the great memories.
Go Green!
Elijah McCloskey, Huntington Senior