The Eisenhower high school football team has experienced a variety of ups and downs and are now competing in contention for a chance in the playoffs. I recently sat down with Elijah Necochea who plays for the Eisenhower football team. Elijah is the starting quarterback for the Eisenhower high school football team, he is a sophomore at Eisenhower class of 2028. He has done an outstanding job throughout this season and I would say he deserves a deeper dive into his season and outstanding accomplishment .
According to Elijah he says that being a quarterback comes with a bunch of pressure and responsibility. His most pressure times is when he has a full coaching squad counting on him as well as a full team of athletes depending on him to throw a catchable ball. He says it’s also pressure having a school that counts on him leading them to a win, Eisenhower football legacy is never untalked about. As he talks about the pressure of having to make sure his team knows what they are doing as well as having to figure out what kind of coverage the defense is in so he knows what side to look for. Making sure everyone is set and ready to go also making sure he calls the right plays is good for the defense that the other team is in to be certain they won’t have to make a different play call. Also to be able spot when the defense is blitzing him or not, and being able to check how much time he would have to execute the play. But he also says throughout time the pressure gets less and less tense and becomes somewhat a muscle memory.
Elijah isn’t just a football player, he also balances his academics as well. He claims it’s not as hard as people can make it seem but that it’s just in the name of being a high school athlete, “student-athlete” student first and athlete next. The way he balances it is by making sure he puts in the same effort he does towards football. A way he does this is by completing as many assignments he can in class if he doesn’t have time after school or after practice. By doing this he can keep his grades up so that he can continue football without having to worry about getting a grade cut or anything negative academically. Football isn’t just a sport to him, it’s his passion and what he works so hard for. When asking Elijah, Why did he choose to become a quarterback? He indicates that “I felt like it was something that I didn’t choose but it chose me, I remember always wanting to play wide receiver and now I’m a quarterback so that’s what I believe”- Elijah Necochea. This dive’s deeper into his thoughts and dreams, we never know what is going to happen in the near future and neither did he but he took on a responsibility others wouldn’t have done just because of pressure and the spotlight.
Throughout this season Elijah states his most memorable game was the game against Colton high school, in the game he threw a game winning touchdown and all out had an outstanding game. But not just because of that, but also because of his bounce back since their very first game against Moreno valley highschool. This is his favorite moment because he loves the feeling of knowing that he has improved. That isn’t all he improved on though he also believes that he has improved a tremendous amount since his freshman year playing. This is because he went from being a backup jv quarterback to a starting varsity quarterback in just one year. This is because he taught himself how to read defense more and more accurately while also learning how to handle the pressure more calmly and put more focus in the game.
Recently he has had an outstanding homecoming game throwing perfect balls throughout each quarter to lead the team to a homecoming win. Usually Elijah averages 134.4 yards per game which is above average for a sophomore quarterback. He has also had at least 5 to 10 rushing yards per game but he usually throws it more than he runs. From a look you can see this quarterback is improving day by day and will soon make it to greatness and cannot be overlooked.
