Behind the Scenes with the Hatters (Day 1)

Hatboro-Horsham alum and professional sports photographer Darryl Rule will be following his alma mater’s football team and writing a behind the scenes account of the days leading up to Thursday’s Thanksgiving Day game.

Rivarly Week: Behind the Scenes with the Hatters – Day 1

It’s 11:30 on Monday morning in the Hatboro-Horsham High School Cafeteria, and the underclassmen are busy finding their friends and finding their tables to eat their lunch. Many students are wearing pajamas as they enjoy their downtime from class. No, they weren’t running late this morning. It’s PJ Day, the first day of the week long Spirit Week planned at Hatboro-Horsham to build the excitement and anticipation for Thursday’s big game against rival Upper Moreland. At most tables the conversation is about a TV show that was on over the weekend or what everyone’s plans are for the Thanksgiving holiday. But at one table along the wall, the talk is about Thursday’s game. This table is full of underclass football players, including sophomore quarterback Casey Walsh. One of his teammates yells out, “This is Casey, take his picture, he is a big star QB!!!” The table erupts with laughter as Walsh turns away, red faced.

Shortly after, the bell rings, and the hallway outside the cafeteria turns into a mad rush of pajama-clad students rushing to their next class or headed to their lunch period. It’s now the seniors turn to eat, and in the corner, a group of players gathers to eat their lunch. Among them is senior QB Jack Morris. Morris has had a rough senior season, missing parts of the season with injuries.

“Missing time has been rough on me personally, but the hardest part is that I am just one piece to this team, and it killed me not to be out there with my team and helping them on the field,” Morris said.

As if missing part of your senior season isn’t painful enough, this season saw a new coaching staff implement an offense that was more pass-oriented than previous Hatters teams. Morris said, “It feels good to be back after missing the last month. The coaching staff this year has done a great job coming in and really teaching us about the game. As a QB, this offense is a lot of fun to play in.”

You could tell by the sound of his voice and look on his face that he is itching to hit the Hatte

r Stadium turf at 10:00 Thursday morning and get a month’s worth of frustration out of his system. Morri

s rejoins his teammates, rejoins the laughter, and returns to being Jack Morris, Hatboro-Horsham student.

Being a student is a big part of any high school athlete’s day, and the bell rings signaling the end of the senior’s lunch period. It’s back to the reality of class, and senior lineman Shane Delp heads off to Kinesiology class with Mr. Baker. The second bell rings signaling the beginning of fifth period, and Delp settles into his seat along with the rest of his classmates. Mr. Baker breaks the news to the class that they have a test tomorrow and that he, “isn’t going to lie to you guys, this may the hardest, most important test of your lives.”

Some of the students laugh nervously, and Baker reiterates that he is serious, and they really need to make sure they are prepared for this test. Delp grins along with the rest of class when Baker says he should play The Imperial March as this is a very serious situation. Three days away from the biggest game of his High School football career, and Delp has more important things to take care of first. Such is the life of a student athlete. With that, Baker gives the class their options to study for the test, and Delp is set to begin his prep for the test.

At 2:40, the final bells rings, and most students flood out the front doors of the school to get on their buses or get in their cars and head home. It is a bitter cold afternoon, with the temperatures hovering in the mid-30s, so there is brisk pace to the movements out the school. Instead of heading off into the cold with their classmates and friends, the Hatter football team remains within the friendly confines of the school and head off to the weight room for a short session. After the brief respite from the biting cold, it is their turn to head out the door and face the elements.

They pile into cars, and head down the road to Hatters Stadium. From within the bowels of the stadium, the music on the stereo can be heard from outside the building. Inside, most of the players have made their way from the school to the stadium. Along with pads and helmets, layers of pants and shirts are added to keep warm for the frigid afternoon practice. A group of seniors gather around the stereo in the corner of the locker room, frequently changing songs. Depending on what comes on, throughout the locker room, you will hearing singing, see players dancing, and enjoying their last few moments of warmth before heading out into the cold. Billy Joel’s Piano Man comes on, and from outside the closed doors, you can hear the players singing in unison to the well-known song.

Head coach Mike Kapusta arrives in the locker room and has a quick meeting with his coaches. After the meeting, assistant coach and former Hatter player Chris Long enters the room, and with three short blasts of his whistle signals the players to get ready and head to the field. Time to stretch and get ready for one of their final practices of the season.

As the team begins to stretch, coach Long yells out “Seniors, due to the weather, this may be your last practice on this field. Torrential rains are expected tomorrow and Wednesday, so make this one count!!!!!” He continues to yell out different stretching commands as player who had after school obligations continue to trickle in and join their teammates.

Stretching ends around 3:45, and the team breaks into two groups, one with coach Long and coach Brian Haupt, the other go with coach Kapusta to work on some plays. Throughout the drills, the common theme is intensity. Kapusta tells the players he is with to “pick up the intensity. It looks sluggish out here,” and the players respond on the next rep with a little more hustle and hop.

Over at the other group, coach Long isn’t happy. After a sloppy play, he blasts his whistle again and steps into the middle of the group. “Listen!!!! You guys are three days away from the biggest game in front of the biggest crowd you are ever gonna play in front of, and right now you’re going through the motions. I need you to play with emotion, and get it right.” Again, just as with coach Kapusta’s group, the next rep is much crisper and what the coaches are looking for, and Long confirms that is what he was looking for.

Practice concludes shortly thereafter, and the players return to student mode. They will head home to work on projects, complete assignments, or in Shane Delp’s case, study for his monster skeletal structure exam.

Tomorrow will bring Thursday’s big game one day closer, another Spirit Week event to raise the excitement level one more notch, and another day of preparation for the Hatters and their coaches. The players can feel the excitement growing around the school, and they all know the importance of this game.

Many of the players have been attending these games since they were young children. Morris said, “ My first game, I was in first grade. I was one of those young kids off playing football in the field to the side of the stadium.” He said that he really started remembering the games around fifth grade, and he been waiting for his senior year. The importance of this game is not lost on his fellow seniors. “This is the most important game of the season. The Spirit Week gets the school so hyped, and us as player feel that and feed off it.”

Join us tomorrow for some memories of previous Thanksgiving Day games and some feelings from those who have had the privilege of playing in this special series. A big thanks to Lou James, Mrs. Lichtner, Mr. Baker, Coach Kapusta and all the coaches and players for giving us a behind the scenes look at the preparations for Thursday.