BOULDER — As the Jefferson High School football team readies up for this 2021 season starting on Sept. 3 against Whitehall, one of the things that Panthers' players and coaches are looking forward to most about this upcoming season is a return to a sense of normalcy.
“It'll be huge. I mean, we'll have more fans. I mean, it allows a lot more people to come," said Panther head coach Clint Layng. "Even me personally, my dad who's been a big part of my football life. I mean, he'll be at all the games this year. Last year, he might not have been at some. So, I think it benefits everybody, from coaches to the players to people in the community.”
That sense of normalcy doesn’t just mean a positive impact on their home turf, it also extends to road games as well according to senior Jake Genger.
“Away games. Like we had no support really because we couldn't bring anybody. So it was a lot harder to play on the road," said Genger. "Playing here it was, it was a lot different. So you had really had a home team advantage.”
This year, Jefferson returns nearly its entire corps of starters and with that a good bit of experience to boot, which is why even though the Panthers are still a little over two weeks before their first kickoff of 2021, they feel prepared. But they still want to be on their toes for anything.
“We got the experience, we got the guys for sure. But we still, we've got to focus on the little things to make sure we're crisp and ready to go for the first game,” said Genger
"We have a lot of guys that this will be their third year starting and the attitude has been awesome. The energy has been awesome. I couldn't be happier with the first you know, five, six days of practice or whatever it's been," said Layng. "It's been really good and, and I'm excited and I'm excited we're going and I'm ready. I'm ready to start the season and looking forward to it."
Jefferson football opens its season on Sept. 3 against Whitehall at home.
