Freshman wide receiver Ethan Thulin caught the ball in stride, flying past Hinsdale Central defenders and securing a freshman Trojan football win, the first against the Red Devils in 14 years. 

At the horn, Hinsdale Central’s scoreboard read 46-6, making the Trojan record 5-0. 

The freshman football team has been off to a strong start, holding a record of 6-1 and establishing excitement and anticipation within the program.

Head varsity football coach Joe Horeni expressed that he is looking forward to the upcoming years with these players, but believes that the freshmen still have to develop their maturity. 

“The freshmen have had a nice job playing with confidence. Obviously they had success early, I think they have a little bit of a swagger to them, which could be good but could be bad. I think they play with an edge, which can help them,” Horeni said.

Thulin feels that the team’s win against Hinsdale Central was a defining moment for not only the team, but also the program. 

“I think we are only going to get better. Other teams will too, but the culture Coach Horeni has built within this program is motivating us to get better in as many ways as we can until we are up at the top,” Thulin said.

The team said goodbye to an undefeated record with an Oct. 3 loss to Glenbard West. However, they beat OPRF 49-8 Oct. 12, advancing to 6-1 and showing that they can bounce back from a tough loss. 

Tight end Casey Kramer believes that the Glenbard West game was a chance to learn and improve.

“The losses are just as important as our wins, but we want this to be our only one. It motivates us more actually, and I think we all took this and learned from it. We were all disappointed, but we all think we could come back stronger,” Kramer said.