Friday night lights. The fans. The excitement. The crack of the pads. The last second touchdowns. After a summer of hard work, the Papillion-La Vista Monarchs football team is filled with enthusiasm and hope for the upcoming season. Coming off of a 7-4 record last year, the Monarchs are looking to continue their winning ways for the 2025 season. 

“In preseason we all showed up everyday and gave a hundred percent. We tried to make as many improvements as we could every practice,” Junior quarterback RJ Vitera said. 

With a whole new coaching staff and the loss of 22 seniors, there are a lot of unknowns for this season. 

¨The environment has changed a little bit because the coaches have different coaching styles and we have had to adjust to the new plays,” Vitera said.

Although it can be difficult for a team to go through big changes like this, the Monarchs continue to keep a positive mindset. They have confidence that their hard work will pay off and lead them to victory. 

“Our main goal is to just win as many games as possible and make the playoffs,” Junior slot receiver Tyler Pamaran said. 

The Monarchs are dedicated to achieving their goals for the season. They have many strengths as individual players and as a team. 

“Our biggest strength is the team unity. We are all on the same page, and we all want to give each game everything we’ve got and get the win,” Vitera said. 

With the season still ahead of them, the Monarchs count on their strong team chemistry to help them with their upcoming games. They pushed each other throughout the summer in hope for big successes. With that being said, every team has weaknesses. 

“The biggest challenge we are facing is being low on numbers. We don’t have a lot of players,” Pamaran said. 

For many different reasons, the Monarchs had numerous players transfer to another school and as a result of this, they barely had enough players to make a full JV team. Given the circumstances, the varsity team will face struggles of being overworked and tired because they don’t have a large number of guys to sub them out for a break. The players all have different ideas of how their overall record will end up.

“My prediction for the season is that we end up going 6-3 and make the playoffs,” Pamaran said. 

Despite the challenges, the team wants to prove everyone wrong and have a successful winning season. Overall, the Monarchs just look forward to playing the sport they love in high school while they can. 

“I’m most excited to just soak it all in and be thankful for the atmosphere I get to play in,” Vitera said. 

No matter the outcome of the season, the Monarch football team’s main goal is to have fun and enjoy high school football while it lasts. At the end of the day, it’s all about doing what you love and making long term memories.