TCSTribune.com

• Only 1% of the People of China breathe air that is considered safe by the European Union
• The U.S alone produces enough trash everyday to outweigh the Empire State Building
• 1 in 4 mammals faces extinction
• About 30% of the ocean is acidic, due to pollutants, and no longer supports basic forms of life, such as plankton which is necessary for the food chain to continue
• 20% of the Polar Ice Cap has melted since 1979

Going Green, is it an issue that has a basis in fact, or is it propaganda spewing forth from the mouths of nutty socialists?

For many Christians, there are several factors causing alarm with the Green Moment. First there’s a general lack of trust with Going Green proponents. The majority of those supporting the movement are found to be Left Wing supporters, with the loudest mouthed supporter of the Green Movement being Al Gore, “inventor” of the Internet. Then there’s a belief that the movement might be politically driven. After all, billions of dollars were earmarked for “Green” projects last year. But perhaps the most genuine concern is seeped in faith. What is the proper Christian response to the Green Movement in light of what Christ teaches?

History of Green

Christians might be surprised to learn that the Green Movement began with ideals most believers would agree with. During the Industrial Revolution for instance, there were no health inspectors so businesses were free to pollute to their hearts content. The areas around Philadelphia, and Pennsylvania for instance were so heavily polluted that the public drinking water became contaminated.

Later on, health inspectors were appointed in New York due to the epidemic of yellow fever, caused in part by smog spewing smoke stacks surrounding the city. When the 1900’s saw the inception of the gasoline powered engine for both motor vehicles and ships, air became heavily polluted with smog, and the seas and rivers became contaminated with oil spills. But thanks to environmentalists, the last 30 years has ushered in corporate awareness in companies such as General Motors, who have begun to take a more environmentally friendly approach to how they build engines.

During the late 1960’s through the early 90’s however, the movement shifted to cult status. The name Hyper Environmentalists comes to mind or tree huggers; those people that chained themselves to trees in order to prevent lumberjacks from doing their jobs. Those supporters gave the Green Movement a bad name because they used fear of a doomed world to garner support.

The Green Movement of today is a far cry from the days of the Hyper Environmentalists, who regarded a total, albeit completely voluntary, self extinction of man as a good thing for “Mother Earth. Going Green in the new millennium is often about caring for the environment by investing in renewable energy programs, preserving endangered animals and making life here on planet earth as enjoyable as possible for everyone.

Green Pork

There is a lot of debate over the politics of the Green Movement. Some groups use the “Go Green” slogan to garner support from real “Greens”; ironically it sometimes results in a nominee that is not a supporter of the Green Movement and its causes. But for the most part, Members of the Green movement are generally Democrats, leading Republicans to be a little suspicious of the movement, especially when Democrats paint Republicans as insensitive earth destroyers.

Also of concern are the billions of dollars earmarked toward eco-friendly businesses. Some outspoken conservatives, like Rush Limbaugh, have gone so far as to accuse the Obama administration of pushing a political agenda that remains grossly unsupported by the American people. “Nobody wants them!” Announces Limbaugh regarding government subsidized hybrid-vehicles. “The manufacturers are making them in droves to satisfy Obama,” he says.

Whatever the political motivation regarding the Green Movement, Christians need to get involved. There is much money at stake and silence is seen as a free pass for congressional spending.

God Made Green

For Christians looking to God’s Word for answers about how to live life, the question must be asked. Are the scriptures silent on all things green?

We read in Genesis 1:28 an account of God mandating Adam and Eve to, “Be fruitful, multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it.” This leads us to believe that we are to be caretakers on behalf of God, to replenish what we use for the benefit of mankind.

And in Romans 8:21 the Bible tells us that all of creation will benefit from Christ sacrifice and resurrection. We are to take care of, and even in some cases, better the earth to glorify God.

So what if all the facts are true? What if our planet is dying? What is our biblical obligation? Although it’s important to discern whether this movement is based upon a liberal agenda, or fueled by power hungry politicians, it’s imperative that Christians have a biblical opinion, and that it is based upon fact, not fear.

After all you can go Green for God.

When Lynne Thompson arrived at Turlock Christian this year she didn’t expect very much. All she wanted was to enroll her son at TC, and substitute teach a few classes to help with tuition. Little did she know God had bigger plans.

“The high school was in need of a journalism teacher, so I was offered that position. I was very excited with the privilege of educating students about professional journalism. I’m also delighted with the opportunity to share with my students the life lessons and skills that God has imparted to me over 15 years in the writing field,” said Thompson.

Thompson says her writing career began when she was a mere child. “I’ve been writing since I was seven years old. I was editor of my high school newspaper, ‘The Eagle’s Eye’, and started college as a Journalism major before changing to Liberal Studies. Right after my daughter, Cassie, was born I began writing for the religious magazine market. I wrote for some really cool magazines such as Leadership, Homelife, Discipleship Journal, and many of the Focus on the Family magazines. Then, a few years ago, God took me in another direction. I began broadcasting ‘Soccer Mom Moments’ with Focus on the Family radio, and then published “The Official Soccer Mom Devotional” with Regal Publishing. I still write web articles for Focus on the Family, and my blog at SoccerMomBook.com.  So I guess I’ve never truly ‘left’ journalism.”

Thompson received her BA in Liberal Studies from CSU Stanislaus, which she says turned out to be a better career choice for someone entering the magazine market. “I was required to take courses from every discipline, which prepared me for various writing assignments. I’ve written on everything from angry children to stem cell research.”

When asked if Mrs. Thompson was enjoying TC so far she replied, “I love it. My students are so sweet and excited to learn. I’m thrilled about taking the TCS Tribune online. Besides compelling articles, we will be able to offer multimedia experiences with video, blogs, contests, and online polls.”

Thompson envisions TCSTribune.com going viral. “Personally, I think our website will be the most visited site in Turlock. I’m sure our students will find all the best in TC news only a click away. Besides, who knows? God’s plans could be bigger yet.”

On average, people fear spiders more than death.

Donald Duck’s middle name is Fauntleroy.

Around the world, around 50 bibles are sold each minute.

Fitzroy River Turtles can breathe through their butt.

Americans eat about 18 acres of pizza every day.

The “Robbins” in Baskin Robbins once made a Ketchup ice cream.

It would take 1,200,000 mosquitoes, each sucking once, to completely drain the average human of blood.

A ‘geep’ is the resulting offspring of a sheep and a goat, usually ending in stillbirth.

Cigarette smoke contains over 4800 chemicals, 69 0f which are known to cause cancer.

There are two million vehicle crashes in the U.S. every year. It is estimated that every year about 40,000 people die from car crashes.

My family is one of the lucky ones to survive.

We were in a serious car accident on December 23, 1999. There were three things that kept us alive: Rick Jones was an alert driver, seatbelts, and the family’s guardian angel.

I remember how we were all very excited to share Christmas gifts with our good friends. We were about halfway to Waterford on Hickman road when it happened. It was too late when we saw the four large iron gates blocking the middle of the road. Our driver swerved to miss them, but the erratic correction sent our vehicle rolling down a 20-foot embankment. I know we flipped at least three times, but miraculously, our vehicle landed on all four wheels.

I found this to be very interesting, because it showed me how God is always there for us. Just as the it says in Psalms 33:20-21, “He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name.”

It reminds me that God’s hand is always upon us, and His angel isn’t too bad a driver either.

1. Think back on a time where God has protected you.
2. Take time to thank God for being your shield.

Mission trips in general are great to go on. Geoffrey Retemyer says, “They put you out of your comfort zone so God can use you to serve others.”

This past summer a team of Turlock Christian students traveled with Students International serving for two weeks the people of the Dominican Republic.

For Kristin Tillotson, who worked with preschoolers on the trip, this was her first time serving with Students International. She was amazed by the disparity of behaviors between U.S. children and those of the DR, “They weren’t afraid of a thunder storms, but once we closed the windows they got cabin fever,” she said.

Mrs. Piper, who attended last year, also worked with the preschoolers and helped out in the hospital. She says, “I have always been fascinated by medicine, so being in the hospital, operating room was very comfortable for me. If I ever decide to leave teaching, I think I’d like to be a mid-wife.”

One student found that sometimes serving means tapping into your existing skills for God’s use. Retemeyer, who played third base for the TC Baseball team was able to use his talent on the mission field. “The most memorable thing that happened to me was having the opportunity to play baseball with the Dominican kids everyday and just hanging out with them for two weeks.”

Sometimes though the students found themselves being stretched beyond their abilities for instance Tillotson thought that she would not be able to eat anything, and have a hard time communicating, even though she has had three years of Spanish. But after awhile she adjusted, enjoying the food and the language.

Morgan Andre who went on the DR trip and helped out in the art site painting murals. “The trip humbled me and showed me how selfish I was and helped me to be thankful for things like school and not to complain much,” says Andre.

Mrs. Piper, who at first worried about things like sleeping on the floor and bugs, found her cultural biases were challenged. “I didn’t realize how much not speaking Spanish would trouble me. I mean, knowing laves los manos, doesn’t cut it! I had always resented hearing Spanish in Turlock, waiting to dial 1 for English, and on things like documents. After going to the DR, I now hear Spanish as God’s language of love. It is a beautiful language and the people of the DR are dearly loved by God.”

Students who attended DR Trip:

Morgan Andre, Zach Bailie, Megan Brown, Laurie Ford, Oliver Greenbarg, Jeannie Hamilton, Kyle Horjus, Anders Jerner, Kurt Lemos, Kyron Loving, Emily MacLaren, Jason Mast, Haley Meyer, Alana Navarro, Geoffrey Retemeyer, Hiliary Sharp, Corey Souza, Kristen Tillotson, Jacob Williams, Daniel Wright, Garret Yagi.

As Bella lies on the floor, lifeless and bleeding, Edward realizes he has two choices: let her become a vampire or suck the vampire venom out of her arm. He questions himself, wondering if he can resist drinking all of her blood.

If you haven’t heard about the Twilight Saga yet, you must be living under a rock because Twilight has become one of the most popular books of the 21st Century. With over 70 million books sold worldwide and translated into 37 languages; it has easily become a hit.

Stephanie Meyer, the author of Twilight, says she first came up the idea for Twilight when she had a dream about a human girl and a vampire who thirsted for the girl’s blood. With no plans to ever publish the book Stephanie Meyer wrote the first installment to the Twilight Saga. With encouragement from her sister, she sent her manuscript to different publishing companies. After denying seven publishers she finally settled with Little Brown Books for $750,000. Twilight first arrived on the scene in 2005 and within the first month, it was #5 on the New York Times Best Selling List.

Turlock Christian Sophomore, Marley Burton, believes she was one of the first to jump on the Twilight bandwagon, “I read Twilight when it first came out, before it was popular, and then I found out through all the media madness that there were three other parts to the saga.”

The four books include: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. But that’s not all. The movie rights for the franchise were purchased by Paramount Pictures and put into production by Summit Entertainment. Even though the first movie was kind of a disappointment, released in theaters on November 21, 2008, it still managed to gross $35.7 million its opening day. By September 19, 2009, the film has grossed $383,520,177 in the worldwide box office and, as of July 12, 2009 it earned $157,078,128 in North American DVD sales.

Turlock Christian Senior, Demsina Babazadeh, thinks that regardless of how much money the Twilight movie made, it still was dissatisfying, “Well, to be honest the first movie was kind of a letdown. I don’t think they captured the chemistry between Edward and Bella at all”.

Fortunately, the movie sequel for New Moon, is expected to be better, in fact one actor in particular is adding to the film’s frenzy. “I am so excited for New Moon, because of Taylor Lautner,” says TC Sophomore, Mary Sargisian.

As with many cult movies there are various opinions about the Twilight books and movies both abroad and here on the TC campus. “I love the twilight series,” says Sargisian, “It is defiantly one of my favorites.”

Disagreeing, Senior, Hiliary Sharp, shared reasons why she decided not to read the saga. “Although I think the whole idea behind Twilight, the vampire-romance, is interesting, I don’t agree with some of the moral qualities hiding beneath the romantic exterior. A dangerous, and addictive, secular theme is played out within the saga: that there is a person out there that will give you satisfying, eternal personal fulfillment and will complete your life”.

Sharp makes a good point. The Bible commands us in Proverbs 4:23 to “guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. And Romans 12:2 Warns us not to “conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Definitely a warning that all twilight heart throbs should be aware of.

Regardless of whether you’re a Twilight groupie or not; one thing is clear, the Vampire genre is back and it has found a way to turn blood into a great deal of money.

Standing in front of the classroom, the teacher patiently waited for the student to answer. The student bit his pencil nervously. If he answered incorrectly, he would let his classroom down. He carefully responded.
“What is . . . the Panama Canal?”

“Timmy, that is correct! Five hundred dollars for your team!”

She tapped the board next to her, resembling a big screen TV the size of a white board, and a new question magically appeared.

What is this remarkable board allowing a classroom to play jeopardy and permitting the teacher to change what is on the screen with the touch of a hand? It is called a Promethean board, the newest in educational technology. The person we have to thank for ushering in this cutting edge advancement is Sherman Glenn, Turlock Christian’s new superintendent.

Sherman Glenn might be new to Turlock Christian this year, but it isn’t his first occupation involved with education. After graduating college, he taught elementary, junior high, and high school for eight years. Later he worked on staff at First Baptist Church as associate minister of counseling, in addition to running a counseling office in Modesto, California.

A private man, Glenn describes himself as a homebody who enjoys reading historical fiction, watching sports, and occasionally sailing on the open sea. He has two daughters: Heather, who is 39 years old, and Holly, who is 29 years old, and a grandson, Eli, ten months old. “He is really the delight of my wife and I. He has certainly taken our hearts. Being a grandparent is very fulfilling,” says Glenn.

Surprisingly, Glenn isn’t brand new to Turlock Christian (back in the 80’s he created our school mission statement) but declined the chance to come back as superintendent when first offered the position by then current superintendent, Jack Mayer. Mayer asked if he would reconsider. Glenn replied he would think about it.

After a great deal of prayer with his wife, Glenn says his thoughts changed. “God began to change our hearts to the point of when I was asked to put an application in, I said yes.” There was a condition however. Glenn told his wife that if it wasn’t unanimous, he wasn’t going to come. Later in the week, Mr. Nelson called Glenn to tell him the decision was in fact unanimous for him to join Turlock Christian.

Glenn feels as if everything he has done up to this point has prepared him for the position he is in now, but must undergo one challenge. “I am accustomed to having contact with the students. Now, I’m not around the students as much as I would like to be, but that’s the nature of the job,” says Glenn. Still, he has a plan to overcome this barrier. “I’m going to attend as many sporting events and meetings as I can.” Additionally, Glenn has met with some of the soccer and football players. “My door is always open,” he proclaimed.

Now what about those Promethean boards? Glenn explains, “The boards are electromagnetic; they’re like a whiteboard that is four by seven feet long. They have an electromagnetic field in front of them, with an arm coming from across the top that has an LCD projector attached to it. This projector shines back down on the board, so that anything commonly done on a computer can be projected to the class. If a teacher has a power point presentation, they can run it through. They can then tap the board with a stylus, and it will flip to the next page.”

According to Glenn, the boards should be installed shortly, first appearing in Mr. Erickson’s, Mrs. Johnson’s, Mr. Garman’s and Mr. William’s room, making TC the only school in the Stanislaus County that with Promethean boards.
Technology is great, but Glenn confesses to seeing something of greater value here at TC. “There is a passion for life, a passion for the Lord that gives students the ability to live life abundantly. At See You at the Pole, someone prayed, ‘Thank you God for the staff loving on us,’ and I thought, what a tremendous compliment from a student to a teacher, that they felt so loved on. It was almost as endearing a term that you would hear a student make to their parent. TC is like family. It’s that kind of thing that I look forward to becoming more a part of.”

Once upon a time in small land far far away, students at TC attended MORP in Palo Alto, California. MORP originated quite a long time ago, when the students were sick of not having any kind of homecoming, so they came up with the term “MORP”, which is prom spelled backwards.

The first MORP was held at Discovery Zone in 1998, but since then MORP has come a long way. This year TC students attended a football game at Stanford Stadium, enjoying Stanford’s 33-14 win over Arizona State.

The theme for this year was Fairy Tales and Nursery Rhymes so students donned creative and whimsical costumes. Junior Jordan Gustafson was impressed with one costume in particular. “Morgan Andre and Geoffrey Retemeyer’s Goldilocks and the 3 bears costume was pretty clever,” he said. Others agreed that Candice Balswick and Garret Yagi also made a big splash with their Jack and Jill costume.

Sophomore Schyler Johnson, and Freshman Mackenzie Spycher, both agreed that the best part of MORP was watching the game, but they didn’t know some would think they were part of it, “Someone saw my Alice in Wonderland outfit and asked me and my friends if we were the half time show,” said Spycher.

Of course part of the fun of any trip is the journey up. Students busied themselves on the 100-mile bus trip with storytelling, mass text messaging, and watching out for Mr. Fast’s hand checks.

Students agreed the tailgate party before the game provided an excellent opportunity to bond. “I really enjoyed eating on the grass with my friends during the tailgate,” said Junior Haley Myer.

But for some MORP was bittersweet. “ “I’m sad that I will never get to experience a MORP again. It’s always really fun to ask creatively, dress up, and go to an event with all your friends. But four is a satisfactory amount,” said Senior Morgan Andre.

Overall MORP was a fun day of spending time with schoolmates, and all the students at Turlock Christian lived happily ever after!

A woman rushes her critically injured son to the hospital. She speeds past stop signs and rockets through red lights. Coming to a halt within the emergency parking lot, she lunges at her son and musters all her strength to pick him up and carry him inside. The doctor takes her son to the emergency room; the frazzled mother is exhausted, but relieved. However, the worst news has yet to come, the hospital’s nurse enters the room and informs the mother that her HMO will not cover her son’s treatment.

Step into the world that many people face on a daily basis. There are nearly 46 million people in the United States who do not have health insurance this day. Either their employer does not offer the insurance or they simply cannot afford it. With this many people in constant danger, what will the government plan to do?

Barack Obama’s cabinet plans to push legislation offering free healthcare to all United States citizens. This means Americans will no longer need to pay for health insurance that is often unused, and that those who actually require healthcare will get it. Seems like all positive things, right?

Well the opposition to this plan states that free healthcare could influence people who have minor afflictions to abuse the system by increasing the frequently of doctor visits, or attending the doctor without need, thus skyrocketing the price of this reform. Arguments also come from the overall massive price of instituting the plan and the right of people to have free healthcare.

Some will argue that healthcare is not an inherent human right; therefore the government is not responsible for providing something that is not needed. However, those who promote the bill believe that health is a fundamental part of being human, which makes healthcare a right.

So Where is it?

For some, like our own Congressman Cardoza of the Central Valley, the jury is still out regarding crucial details concerning the bill. “This is a very complicated issue and there currently is not a final bill for me to review or to take a position on,” he explained.

“There are several proposals working their way through Congress and subject to change as the legislative process unfolds. Eventually these proposals will be pulled together into one final bill. There are some good and bad parts in each of the proposals. But until I have seen the final bill, I cannot take a position on it” he added.

Congressman Cardoza, a staunch supporter of bills that support the people and the furthering of humanity as a whole, regardless of which side of the fence such proposals lie, is quick to recognize the need for healthcare exists.

“ I believe that health care reform is absolutely needed. Costs are spiraling out of control. As a result, we have too many people going without medical treatment. And we have too many people who are forced to choose between purchasing their prescription drugs or putting food on their table.”

Most people will agree that some type of healthcare reform is needed, but can a middle ground be found? Congressman Cardoza says he’s counting on it. “I think there are many things that members of Congress from both parties widely support. I do hope we are able to find a middle-ground for the overall health care reform effort in the coming weeks.”

Of course this still doesn’t address fiscal implications. How much money are we talking about here you say? Well Congressman Cardoza explains that, “The cost of the health care proposals being discussed is still in flux as the details are being worked out. However it has been projected at around $900 billion, yet The Congressional Budget Office promises a measure would actually reduce federal deficits by $81 billion over a decade. Keeping perspective, remember healthcare money it is just a drop in the bucket compared to the United State’s fourteen trillion dollar annual GDP.

How’s That Working for You?

It is widely known that several other countries have systems of free healthcare long in effect. Canadians are very much in support of their healthcare system. This system offers free treatments and appointments to all citizens of Canada, with all scenarios of sickness covered. The spending for this in Canada is about one hundred-sixty billion dollars in Canada, which translates to about 10% of the countries total GDP. However, there is some criticism with the Canadian healthcare system. Waiting time is quite problematic, with the average time before you see a doctor being one to three months. Dr. Brian Day, an outspoken Canadian physician, was once was quoted as saying “This is a country in which dogs can get a hip replacement in under a week and in which humans can wait two to three years.” Currently, the Canadian government is putting about five billion dollars into the system in an attempt to decrease wait times.

Concessions

Back at home, Congressman Cardoza wants to make sure his support of any healthcare plan actually benefits those he represents. “I wholeheartedly support the idea of reforming our health care system. Right now we pay more for health care than any other country in the world. Yet we are not healthier for it. It is clear that our system is broken and I would very much like to support reform. However, I cannot vote in support of a bill if it will not increase the number of physicians in the Central Valley. I also will not support a bill that will do nothing to control health care costs and make coverage more affordable for businesses or families, or if it won’t benefit my constituents.”

Some people might think that power-puff is something you purchase in the cosmetic aisle at Wal-Mart. Boy are they wrong!

This year the senior and freshmen girls battled it out against the junior and sophomore girls in an all out powder puff flag football match held on the TC campus, on October 22, with the freshmen and senior team walking away with a 7-6.victory.

This is a long-standing TC tradition that is put on the night before the homecoming football game to raise school spirit and pump up the student body. The freshmen and senior team this year was coached by Dale Brown, father of Megan Brown, and Mr. Muller, father of Johanna and Rebekah Muller, coached the So-Jo team.

Senior, and captain of the winning team, Candice Balswick, was very excited for their win. “It’s very exciting to win three years, a key aspect to our victory was executing our plays and another was freshmen Halie Bergman,” she said.
Junior Raelynn VanderWeide wasn’t as happy with the outcome of the game, “We should have won tonight, and I think we would have if we could have taken out their offensive line,” she said.

The half time show featured stud-volleyball game, pitting the TC football players against the TC soccer players. Football took the win in a spirited competition.

For most volleyball athletes a bad play is when you miss the ball completely, for Johanna Muller a bad day is when you never see the ball at all. As Captain of the girl’s Varsity volleyball team, Muller is used to pushing through tough moments. A rare condition, which causes her to blackout, hasn’t stopped her from serving up intense competition for the Eagle team.

“Johanna is a great captain, she has all of the girls respect and they all look to her when they need advice or help on and off the court” says Coach Landmeier.

This tenacity is typical of TC’s Volleyball team. Last year the volleyball team made it to playoffs, and this year’s team beat Waterford with a score of 3-0, as well as Delhi with a score of 3-0, and remained undefeated until losing 1-3 to Mariposa. But according to team member, Rebekah Muller, losses only serve to make the team more determined.

“It was a hard blow to everyone, I think, because we all know we could have won. But that just makes us want to beat them next time even more. So we are very much looking forward to that,” says Rebekah.

Something else contributing to the team’s positive attitude says Rebekah Muller, is the cohesive relationship between the girls. “The chemistry between all the girls is great, on and off the court. Having a team (007) and coaches that are like family is such a blessing for everyone.”

So will they make playoffs? Rebekah suggests that answer is dependent on a couple of things. “I think we definitely have the potential to make playoffs, but it all depends on everyone’s drive and determination, and God’s will.”

I’d say that’s the right approach.

“Passing, passing, passing,” is the mantra coming from Varsity Soccer Coach Mike Burnam. The new soccer coach’s goal is to win eleven out of twenty four games. Of course they want to go to playoffs, and both Team Captain Kyron Loving and Coach Burnam are optimistic about their chances. But the Turlock Christian Eagle Boy’s Soccer team is doing more than play a game, they are learning about life.

Last month the team decided to forfeit a game due to unfair calls on behalf of the referee, believing it was a matter of principle. After that the Eagles lost two more games, but made a comeback playing Delhi with a 1-0 win. Loving says, “You can’t give up on life just like in the game.”

Another challenge the team had to overcome is getting past the football handicap. “The team has a culture of football,” explained Burnam. “In football the main concept is to go forward, but in soccer you sometimes need to go backwards. That is all part of the game.”

Kyron and Coach Burnam both feel that, overall, the team has improved and has potential. Coach Burnam noticed the freshmen are working hard, and that Nick has improved his over all game. Also exhibiting strength is Erick Amaya, proving to be a strong goalie. Jonathan Boren on defense, and forward, Loving, are also having a good season.

Although Burnam wants to teach them how to play like winners, it’s more about technique. “Passing is the key for playing an excellent game,” he says.
Since having a good attitude also part of a winning game Coach Burnam is asking the boys to reconcile with their teammates if any conflict arises between them. “I want them to handle problems between each other the ‘Bible way’. I don’t want them to come straight to me, but go to the person they have a conflict with, and try to work it out on their own first.”

Sometimes though the scoreboard doesn’t show a teams’ transformation. After a tough battle with Denair under the lights resulting in a score of Denair winning 2-1, Coach Burnam stood proud. “They are improving on trusting each other on the soccer field and even though we didn’t win tonight we played a good game.”

They drive ridiculous distances to get to them. They talk about it all day long. They can’t wait for it. I’m not referring to the latest movie or concert. Nothing unites students like a TC football game. And who can blame them? After the first five games the team boasted a combined score of 135-81.

Austin Morelli, starting center for the Eagles, has high hopes for the team.

“I’m looking forward to a state championship because we have a lot of weapons on offense and defense.”

Even though TC lost to Orestimba, the team fought hard and could have won, had it not been for a few mistakes. The following weeks will prove exciting as the team takes on a few more teams before playoffs, the last one against rival, Denair. Coach Rusty Lyons says “I absolutely believe we can beat anyone we face.” Linebacker Garret Yagi has set the bar high saying, “I expect 100% of myself on every play.” The rest of the team is assuredly no different.

One team member playing a key part in this early-season high is Robbie Smallwood. In the first four games, he threw 27 passes for 539 yards and ran for 76 yards, one of the runs a 33-yard touchdown run against Jim Elliot. But as important as he is on the offensive side of the ball, he is just as important on the defense making four tackles in the Elliot game and coming away with a sack against Big Valley.

Team player, Cody Alldrin, arguably one of the most talented wide receivers in our league, has 308 yards on only 14 receptions. He scored all but one of the touchdowns in the Big Valley game, and never fails to make difficult plays. Along with Robbie, Cody also plays a key role on the defense, with 22 tackles and two interceptions.

Nikko Jennings, the main man in rushing, has racked up 126 yards on only 27 carries, averaging 4.7 yards per carry. And although he’s the team’s best rusher, he is also one of the best on defense, with 36 tackles in four games, one of them a sack, the other an interception.

Lastly, one of the most important parts in a football game, the line, is made up of Colin Russell at right tackle, John Kim at right guard, Austin Morelli at center, Garret Yagi and Morgan McIntyre at right guard, and yours truly at left tackle.
Not to be forgotten is Geoffrey Retemeyer with 111 yards receiving and five interceptions, Garret Yagi on defense with 22 tackles and two forced fumbles, Brent Abraham with 17 tackles and a fumble recovery, James Riley with 174 yards and 29 tackles, and Beau Warda with two field goals and six kicks into the end zone.

According to Austin Morelli, before every game, the team talks for about an hour, going over plays and then ending with a prayer. Right before the game, they pad up, and mentally prepare. Garret attributes part of his success to his pump-up. “ Coach King yells like crazy. It’s so intense.”

By the time they take the field, everyone on the team is ready to play, ready to win, but most ready are the fans.

For current football scores and statistics click here