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11/18/2024 10:51 PMChase King takes in the duality of football with its hard-hitting nature, yielding some fruitful friendships away from it. He has harnessed all the varying emotions of the game to establish himself as a well-revered leader for the Valley Regional-Old Lyme (VR-OL) football team.
Chase’s first sporting adventure took place on the diamond around the age of 3 with baseball, a sport he still plays to this day. Yet he finally got into football around fifth grade after following the lineage of his father, uncle, and brother. This fall, Chase is doubling down as a member of the linebacking corps for the Warriors while splitting his time in the backfield on offense as a tailback and fullback. Additionally, Chase is serving as a junior captain for 5-3 Valley-Old Lyme.
“I just love the brotherhood and bonds you form with your teammates. I also like to hit; it is what I like the most about the sport,” says Chase. “I think what has helped me is just staying out of my own head while staying focused and locked in during games and practices. Playing linebacker is a lot of gap schemes and finding the gaps. Playing linebacker has helped me better understand where the running backs like to go.”
Being in the backfield of the defense, Chase is in a spot where he is the signal caller of that end of the turf. It has helped fortify the growth of his leadership skills. He explains that every snap brings with it a whole new objective and destination, though he always hits home with intensity.
“As a linebacker, I love that it is one of the most important jobs on defense. It allows me to be a better leader on the field. I also love both running and blocking,” Chase says. “On defense, the hardest part about it is probably how much the position calls for. You can have plays where you could be playing down, in a zone, or taking on multiple blockers at a time if you are facing a run-heavy team. The toughest part of being a fullback is probably blocking and learning where to hit the person in the right spot.”
As a steward of the squad, Chase is well aware he can dictate the emotional demeanor of the remainder of the club. So with that presence of mind, he makes sure to stay steady and stable–giving his full effort no matter if the play is feast or famine.
“As a captain for the team, whenever I start to get in my head, I realize that other people can see it, and then it can get to them and affect their performances,” says Chase. “I also try to forget about mistakes and tell myself that if I mess up, make sure you do it 100% and make up for it 100%.”
Chase’s raw talents have been boosted over time while learning from some superb upperclassmen ahead of him as he awaited his turn. He knows he is not perfect in every element of his game, but he has the right acumen to be an ultimate student of the gridiron.
“Over the years, my speed and strength have improved. And my freshman year, I had a great group of seniors to follow and learned from them,” says Chase. “I can work on being better at my open-field tackling, but I have become a better blocker on offense and have gotten better at understanding the defense.”
The Warriors’ place in the standings is certainly not emblematic of the true composition of the club. Chase details VR-OL is a program full of his classmates that garnered some early time in the spotlight to help them traverse even further this fall.
“Our record this year doesn’t reflect how good we are,” says Chase. “We have a great group of players, and we have been playing together for three years now. We want to continue to keep pushing ourselves to try and make the playoffs. We are all pushing ourselves to be the best we can be.”
Warriors football Head Coach Hill Gbunblee adds that Chase is adding to the lineage of his family and the impact it’s had on the turf for the Warriors. He is also someone who has not simply become spoiled or complacent, earning each accolade and praise.
“Chase is a legacy player, as his older brother was on the team,” says Gbunblee. “He has been a solid contributor and athlete since he joined the team and has put countless hours in.”
Beyond starting as a sophomore, Chase took the reps to heart and continued to train diligently with his buddies during the dog days of summer. While training in all environments, the Warriors grabbed some valuable intangibles that have helped them battle to the end.
“A bunch of us actually started as young sophomores last year,” Chase says. “I think the experience last year stuck with us, and we trained hard over the summer. We did days in the weight room and beach workouts every Friday to build our chemistry, as well. We saw our full capabilities I think in our first scrimmage this year, when we competed very well against bigger schools. We just keep fighting out there.”