City Times Staff

Ninth grade football players never seem to get the love. 

While technically high school students, public school 9th graders are housed in the city’s two junior highs, P.J. Jacobs and Ben Franklin. The students take high school courses and are welcome at many of SPASH’s student events, but when it comes to sports, the games are generally at the low end of the totem pole in local media.

The City Times has tried to fill that gap whenever possible, though not as often as we’d like to due to staffing issues. Both of our local frosh teams play with the same intensity as high school varsity, and sometimes even more all for the love of the game. These kids play with bloody knuckles and tweaked ankles out of commitment to their teammates and coaches- and without the prospect of college scouts or scholarships.

The friendly rivalry between the teams is long-standing and they only face off once all year. Kickoff is 6 PM on Tues., Oct 13 at Goerke Field. So grab your blankets and pom-poms; it should be a great game.

Click to enlarge. (City Times image)