8th Grade football players in the Fort Smith Public Schools district take a bus every day to Northside or Southside High School to work with their future team. After a rough season at both Ramsey Middle School and Chaffin Middle School, they are getting to work with better resources. Things such as better coaches, better equipment, and more teammates will benefit these teams. With both having somewhat successful seasons, Darby and Kimmons Middle School will also get better resources as they bus to Northside High School.

     “I love going to Northside for football.” 8th Grade CMS football player states. Going to Northside and Southside is a breath of fresh air for athletes to get a break from their middle school. Most of the time spent at the high schools is spent lifting weights and doing conditioning. These things are guaranteed to improve performance on the field when the season starts. These improvements are very much needed for the athletes at Ramsey and Chaffin.

As stated before, Ramsey and Chaffin had very rough football seasons. With Ramsey going 2-8, and Chaffin going 1-9, the athletes will need to work very hard in the off-season for better performance next season. Despite the records, there is most definitely hope for the future Southside Freshmen team. The team is expected to have a very dominant run game as Ramsey’s offensive line mixed with some of Chaffin’s will be unstoppable. Along with the offensive line, Chaffin’s running backs are extremely athletic and great at their position.

Along with these expectations of the run game, the coaching will much better than Chaffin’s coaching. As Coach Pogue for the freshmen football team retires, the former assistant coach, coach Neissel, will be stepping up as head coach.

“I’m excited, and I’m grateful to coach these young men as they transition into high school football.” coach Neissel says. Northside will continue on with the same coaches as last year. Both teams having successful seasons with this year’s freshman.