Southern Virginia University Football Highlights
By Katherine Kloepping
This season for the Knights was different than anyone on the team could have anticipated. COVID restrictions put the players into quarantine when they tested positive or came in close contact with someone and ultimately cancelled multiple games. The Knights missed some key players for multiple games due to quarantine or injury.
The first season back for the Knights was tough, not only because of COVID-19, but because the Knights have added many new players to the team. The football team is like a family. They put in their all as a team and try to work together as a team. Because there are new players on the team, and some positions changed, it was definitely something they had to work through.
This season only had five games scheduled along with their scrimmage earlier in the season on Feb. 19. Three of the games they played were against, Hampden-Syndney, Emory College and Ferrum College. The fourth game was against Washington and Lee, however it was canceled.
Player #58 Parker Buhler (‘24), a linebacker and the team’s kicker, feels that his first season as a Knight was a success even after all the unpredictability. “ It was pretty crazy. COVID has everyone thrown around. It felt like it was made up on the spot, with having players put in quarantine, we had to adjust without them. It still has been fun. I really like our team. We still have a lot of growing to do.”
After the uncertainty of the fall semester, spring semester was a welcome change of pace for Buhler and other first-year players. “Going into the fall [season], we knew we wouldn’t have any games. We mentally concentrated on getting ready to play but not actually getting to play. We took things slow. Because we had the season to prepare and get to know everyone, we were able to go into this season a little better,” Buhler explains.
This season had some great moments. Buhler says, “We are definitely on the rise.”
