Its a Happy Thanksgiving for the Thunderbolts because they finally got their Thanksgiving Day practice.
But its not just the players and coaches out here but its the families as well.
After a win over Northwest Christian, Coach Pat Nugent was able to get his third Thanksgiving day practice in his 33 years of coaching and Mica Mountain got their first.
I woke up with a lot of energy this morning, it was exciting,” Nugent said. “You know, even last week we were talking about that game. Just to get through that game and to be able to practice on Thanksgiving, that was our goal, so we finished that game and the first thing the kids said was Practice on Thanksgiving coach.
But todays practice wasnt just about football.
Weve got families coming out,” Nugent said.
That family atmosphere at practice, theres nothing like it,” Mica Mountain senior, Devin Hayward said.
Families of players and coaches came out to watch and cook breakfast for the team.
This is a memory for these kids and were trying to keep it light and have a great experience today,” Nugent said.
Nugent would never have thought in just four years this was the position they would be in.
You know, you talk about being thankful and theres so many things for us to be thankful for,” Nugent said. “This group of seniors could have gone to a powerhouse like Cienega, but they chose three, four years ago to come to Mica Mountain not knowing and here we are four years later playing for a state championship.
But unlike Nugent, his players had a feeling they would make it.
From the start of the season, we knew we had a great team. We just had to go in and work hard but now were here, so weve got to finish business,” Hayward said.
Its their first run in the playoffs, its their first turkey day practice, and tomorrow they play in their first semi-finals game against CDO, the Thunderbolts only loss of the season.
Kick-off is at 7 p.m. at CDO.
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