Payson Football: Disciplined, Dedicated and Tenacious

By Landon Penrod

Ask any football player and you will know that the Lions Football program has a whole new motto this year; in fact, its called DDT.  This stands for being what Coach Chapman calls, “Disciplined, Dedicated, and Tenacious.” Something else new that this year football team is the attitude of the players. 

And after last week’s homecoming defeat, where the Lions put up a strong fight, you can see our Lions are working hard.

 “We got football players, we got kids that like the game, like to practice, like to work, they don’t treat it like it’s a job, they treat it like it’s something fun to.  They compete, and they don’t back down from a challenge,” Chapman said. 

Even the football players will tell you there is a different chemistry among the team; in fact, Preston Little says this is one of the strengths. 

“Were really good teammates together, we can move the ball really well together,” Little said.

 The Lions are taking on a tough challenge this year in a new, more competitive region, but Dannel Brown says the new region will be challenging but fun.

 “On our poster, we have the word fearless, we have a tough schedule this year in playing all of the southern teams, but we just need to go out there fearless and play some good football,” Brown said.

 Unfortunately, every team has its weakness, and the Lions Football program is no exception. One of the standout weaknesses that I found was injuries, every single person I interviewed said that injuries are something that plagued the football team.  Preston Little, Dannel Brown, Kyle Moffat, and Phil Perez have all suffered from injuries in the past month so the biggest weakness would be that the Lions are not 100 percent healthy.

 The team goal this year is to win games.

  “To win, this is a team that honestly will compete.  There good kids and athletes, but we want to win a playoff game, at least one. I want to do something that hasn’t been done here since the 80’s,” Coach Chapman said.

  You can tell already this year that this team has something special, so watch as the Lions take on a brand new region and can hopefully reach their goal of being region champs and winning a playoff game.