It has been a wild ride, a roller coaster at times” said Coach Thompson. Thompson is the head football coach at Lincoln North Star, and has shared a few words. After asking Thompson about his players and the season, he had some insight to share with his players especially. He gave this advice to his graduating seniors, “To my seniors, don’t settle, go be great, love what you do and you’ll never work a day in your life” to his returning players, “Stay hungry, you’ll have to step up in the immediate future and the near future” for the incoming freshmen “Leave the 8th grade stuff in 8th grade, it’s time to practice being an adult and we will love you through your mistakes you just gotta make sure you learn from em”. Coach Thompson shares his thoughts and jokingly mentions how coaching has been great for him, making him a better father, but has made him a worse husband because he’s too caring for other people outside his immediate family. 

This season, the North Star football team really has gone through the motions like a roller coaster. Recently, as Coach Thompson described as his favorite memory from the season so far, we defeated the Norfolk Panthers in a 22-19 outing. Unfortunately, in our most recent game against Lincoln East High School, we fell to the Spartans 38-13. 

The football team has most certainly played better, worked harder, and gave it their all when it came to the game. They’ve earned and deserved their triumphs, and have only learned from their turmoil. Gator Football will only continue to get stronger, stay hungrier, and work harder for the future. With the senior class graduating, underclassmen and those looking to make a name for themselves have to step up. 

With only one game left in the season, it will be up to the Gators to show the Columbus Discoverers what the Gator Nation is all about. The Gators’ last game of the season will be held at Memorial Stadium in Columbus, Nebraska on Friday, October 20, 2023.