ROXANA - Roxana senior Ethan Broadfoot might not get to see his name on the scoreboard too often as a two-way lineman on the Shells football team, but all of that changed in the Shells big win over their cross-town rivals East Alton-Wood River.
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Broadfoot, the big 6’7” lineman, got a designed run play drawn up for him on the Shells Senior Night. Ethan got around the edge and rumbled for a good gain.
“It was awesome,” said Broadfoot after that game. “Especially going all these years, this is my fourth year, and I’m finally able to touch the ball. I was just thinking ‘run the best you can’.”
Broadfoot is a Midwest Members Credit Union Male Athlete of the Month for the Shells.
Outside of his rushing exploits that night, Broadfoot’s usual role in the high-powered and high-tempo Roxana offense is that of a willing blocker, opening up the running lanes for the Shells’ running back triumvirate of Evan Wells, Terrel Graves, and Andruw Ellis.
In what has been a stellar season for Shells football, Broadfoot noted the goals that the team set before the season had even started.
“At the beginning of the year, we actually had a list of goals,” Broadfoot explained. “We had every player set their own goals. We had conference champs, undefeated, and going all the way to State. So we’ve been working, getting there slowly.”
Ethan has grown with the Shells football team, as the team has grown into the powerhouse that it’s become in the 2023 season.
“The bonds that I have with these kids, I mean, they’re my brothers basically,” said Broadfoot. “With the freshmen too, as a senior, we add them to this bond we have. And they’ll know what it's like whenever they’re in our shoes.”
When asked about his favorite part of playing for Roxana, Ethan mentioned those bonds with players and staff alike, but also mentioned that Roxana isn’t alone in creating those special ties within the football program.
“I think at every school, there’s a special bond within their football team.”
