“Beat ‘em to the line, let’s go!” yells freshman football Head Coach Tony Holler to his team following an Oswego East timeout. In the fourth quarter of their third game this year, the Freshman Tigers were on their way to their third win in three tries. A 3-0 record does not do this victory justice, however. What constitutes the significance of this game is it was Holler’s 33rd victory in a row as head coach of the freshman team. The team has since won its 34th with a 36-8 rout of Plainfield South.

But these wins go largely unnoticed by the student body at North because they don’t play under the lights each Friday night like the varsity team. The electrifying cheers from the student section are not present each time they score a touchdown. They play each Saturday morning at nine am with their parents scattered throughout the bleachers cheering after each play or shouting words of advice to their kids.

Nevertheless, Holler doesn’t mind the quiet atmosphere.

“We’ve had incredible success and no one watches us, but that’s okay,” said Holler. “I don’t think you should play sports for the glory of the ‘Friday Night Lights’. Sports are all about going out and doing the best you can. We’re excited when we win a game even if there’s six people in the stands.”

The year the streak began, 2011-2012, the team went 6-2-1 with their last loss at Oswego. Following that loss, each of his teams have achieved a perfect record of 9-0, with the current team beginning perfect through four. Even more impressive is the point differential during this span. Holler’s teams have put up an average of 43 points while only allowing eight.

Holler does not shy away from letting his team know how good they have been in the past either. “I don’t believe in pressure at all. I think the better you think you are, the better you play. I’m not afraid to say we’re 2-0 and nobody’s gonna beat us. I told our team before the season started we’re gonna go 9-0. That’s just telling them I believe in them and it’s a positive thing. If we lose, we’re gonna go 8-1.”

Some would consider this approach an unorthodox coaching method, but Holler fully embraces it. This winning attitude is Holler’s recipe for success. At the freshman level, competition is meant to develop players towards varsity competition, and he uses team victories as a means to keep the players interested.

“The goal for every kid is that they really like football. If they really like football then they play as a sophomore,” said Holler. “That’s really the biggest job as a freshman coach is not to win, but to get kids to really enjoy their experience, and winning helps them enjoy it. By really trying to win every game, it promotes the sport to those kids and makes them excited for the next year.”’

Varsity quarterback, Senior JD Ekowa has witnessed and been a part of Holler’s system and wholeheartedly believes in it. He has been a key contributor under center for the varsity team since his sophomore year.

“Because of what we were able to do as freshmen, being able to go 9-0, and the year after us going 9-0, he implants that in their brain that we have a good freshman football program. We’re not gonna let anything damage that.”

Ekowa sees a greater importance in the one year he spent under Holler now that he has further developed at the varsity level.
“[Holler taught me] to keep working hard [and] to believe,” said Ekowa. “He believed in me so he created that feeling of trust in my first year of high school.”

Holler puts a special emphasis on a well-run freshman football program, because he wants each of his players to continue on to greater levels. Developing his players and observing their improvement at higher levels is something he values.

“I always thought at the freshman level, you can actually witness kids getting better more so than you could at the sophomore and varsity levels. You can see the fruits of your labor. Maybe you start the season with twelve guys that are good tacklers, and at the end of the season you have thirty.”

There is a special unity between members of Holler’s freshman teams. He tries to instill in them that football is a team sport, a lesson that is vital for success at higher levels.

“Football is very much a team sport where everyone must do their individual job,” said Holler. “In football, you have to do what you’re coached to do and not go off on your own.”

If the current freshman team completes their fourth straight undefeated season, it will put Holler at his 39th consecutive win.