By John Raffel
Correspondent
MCBAIN – Caleb Miller had a memorable season as a receiver and linebacker for a McBain team which won a district title.
“I believed our team did pretty well in and out of our conference,” Miller said. “We worked and played out best together to get as far as we could in playoffs. I think I did well had a few ups and downs throughout the year but I’d say I did alright. I feel that I defiantly improved on my confidence as a linebacker and how to play off different offenses.
“My role on the team was keeping us motivated before the game and on the field when we make a great play and keeping our heads up when we make a little mistake. I would say my role hasn’t really changed a whole lot. I went from a leader on JV to a small leader on varsity. We didn’t really have a whole lot of seniors this year so I figured I’d try to help motivate the team.”
Miller said his fundamental strengths were definitely his speed and reaction time.
“The most thing I worked on to get better was my left to right movement and how to change directions quickly,” he said. “The most memorable moment was our second-round playoff game against Beaverton for the district trophy and not only the seeing our players after the game with the trophy but just being able to be with them during the entire game. We just took control offense-wise having the ball for almost three quarters of the game and for our defense for stopping them on huge plays.
“I would say some team highlights were our first-round playoff game against Houghton Lake. We all just played four hard quarters of constant pressure from both offense wise and defensibly. I’d say I kind of met my expectations. I did grow confidence as a linebacker but still need to work on being a little more aggressive to attack the line to get through. I would say we exceeded our expectations. making it to the third round in playoffs was just incredible.”
Miller enjoyed some special moments.
“My favorite highlight was my first touchdown of the year,” he said. “It was my first ever receiving touch-down in my entire football career.”
Miller said he is also in wrestling and track. Football is his favorite sport. “You need to work as a team to win a game and it just builds a strong bond with the players you play with that you will be there for them and they will be there with you,” Miller said. “Over the winter I’m going to be working on our track season to get faster for football.”