Flanked mainly by underclassmen on the offensive and defensive lines during gridiron action Saturday, Oct. 16, against physically and numerically superior Monte Vista, Jeremy Roderick intimated afterwards it’s not been easy in the trenches without a classmate just as seasoned and toughened sharing the burden.
“Since we started as freshmen, being in there and starting, I feel like we’ve made like … a legit brotherhood,” he said, speaking of fellow senior Alric Hudson. “We would just work our hardest, fight each other to see who’s better – to have that spot – and when the other one comes out better, we’re like, ‘Yeah, good job! I’ll get you next time!’”
“It’s really rough, especially when he’s on my side and they put a freshman in his spot; we don’t get that chemistry.”
“It’s kind of hard,” agreed Hudson, having just missed his second consecutive game due to a season-ending blown right knee. “We have competitions with each other, trying to push each other harder and past our limits, you know? Try to really help each other out. Don’t have that now.”
But what Hudson does inherently have is perspective.
Knowing he cannot do anything about his injury, other than heed the advice of medical personnel during the rehab process, let Father Time work at his own pace, and support on crutches from the bench his fellow Bobcats, Hudson rarely hesitates to flash a veteran’s optimistic grin – a leadership trait certain to have been spotted in Ignacio High’s hallways at some point, and one perhaps more certainly considered in Hudson being named IHS Senior-of-the-Month for October.
Ironically, notification came via a phone call to his mother ‘the week I was out for my injury, actually.’
“They say humor is some people’s coping mechanism,” he said outside the locker room with a grin. “You know, it’s been hard … the team’s been plagued by injuries; obviously we’ve lost some players. So, I’m going to push past this, get better.”
Naming AP Environmental Science and calculus as two favorite areas of study, Hudson did look to the future and indicate he’s hoping to return to action for the Spring 2022 track-and-field season where, as a thrower, he’ll again pair with Roderick as Ignacio’s primary options in the discus and shot put.
“I’m definitely going to … give it my all,” Hudson stated. “Try my hardest to get back to where I was, maybe even get better, you know? I just like to be competitive, go out there and … work my hardest.”
“You’ve just got to … put it all out on the field and put in the work in the classroom; ‘student’ comes before ‘athlete,’” he continued. “Coach Garcia says that all the time – that we’re students before athletes. We get our work done in the classroom, then we’re on the field!”
“We’re too few,” Alfonso ‘Ponch’ Garcia had said earlier this season, knowing any injuries could hamper the team’s potential. “We’re trying to teach our kids discipline; we’re trying to teach our kids to be students, and students of the game.”
“And linemen, man … without your line you’re nothing; I don’t care what team you are.”