EDWARDSVILLE - As a senior running back and outside linebacker, Zach Daly has tried to be a leader for Metro-East Lutheran High's football squad.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
Zach is a BJ's Printables Male Athlete Of Month For MELHS. He played a key role in a 33-8 victory over HPHS (CO-OP).
"I feel like this year, being the only senior, I have had to be a pretty good leader to the team this year," Daly said. "I also feel that just to use my abilities and to compete this year for the team is a big role for me this year, for sure."
Daly is very much looking ahead to the playoffs Metro-East squad. The Knights concluded the regular season 5-4 overall and everything has been building to this point in time where the Knights could receive a playoff berth.
"It's been building up since my freshman year. I think my freshman year, we had a third of the guys that we have this year, and now being a senior, we've got the team. Every year's been a build-up, and this is the year where we have been able to show all that."
Daly also agreed that at its heart, eight-man football is indeed American football, with all of the competitiveness and fierceness as standard 11-man football.
"Oh, yeah," Daly said. "It's definitely competition. I feel like, in some ways, it's harder, in some ways, it may be easier."
Daly also sees a bright future ahead for eight-man football, both in the immediate area and all throughout the state itself.
"I'd like to see eight-man keep growing," Daly said. "I know there's a lot of 11-man competition, and these bigger schools have more guys, but these smaller schools, I feel like the could definitely have a team and get more competition in the game. I just hope the playoffs go like we want it to. We've been working towards it all season."
