The Kennesaw Mountain Mustangs football team is 4-0 to start the season and riding high after an impressive 54-38 win over North Springs High School. Averaging over 38 points per game nearly halfway through the season and doubling their entire win total from last season, Coach Caleb Carmean’s squad has been chosen as FOX 5 Atlanta’s Team of the Week.
“It's a testament to the work that the kids have put in,” Coach Carmean said prior to the pep rally to present the award. “It's a great accomplishment for them, but they know that there's still a lot of season left to go.”
For now, though, the school relishes the recognition. Hundreds of students, parents, and teachers filled the gym for the celebration, with cheerleaders stunting, the band playing, and FOX 5 Atlanta’s Paul Milliken directing much of the excitement.
“We do this every Thursday during high school football season,” Milliken said between live shots. “We choose a school, we come to that school, we host a big pep rally, we put it on TV, and we celebrate a team that's doing outstanding work both on the field and in the classroom. Obviously, their season is going great so far—undefeated, already doubling last year’s win count, with a rivalry game coming up. It's fun to get everybody riled up and excited before that happens on Friday night.”
While the football team was the official recipient of the locally famous FOX 5 High 5 Sports “Hand” trophy, Athletic Director Shaun Gaines felt that it was an award for the entire KMHS community.
“This award is a great opportunity for the team to get some recognition for all their hard work,” AD Gaines conceded, “but it's also a great opportunity to showcase our cheerleaders and our band, and everybody that’s been a part of our great start. Kennesaw Mountain is a great place to be. We have an amazing community that rallies around all of our sports, and as you can see this morning with this pep rally, everybody's involved.”
That speaks to the culture the Mustangs football program helped create, and Coach Carmean appreciates that about his team.
“The strength of our team is their relationships with each other in the locker room,” the head coach said. “They're selfless, and they play for each other. Our senior class is really, really good. It’s led by Carson Lew, our tight end, and Justin Ruiz, our starting left tackle. Both of those guys are three-year starters for us. Also, Eric Darden at safety and Ashtyn Thomas, who's playing wide receiver and safety. So, we have a really good senior class that has led to a lot of our success so far.”
That success has been recognized and rewarded, and now FOX 5 Atlanta has broadcast across the metro area what it means to be Mountain Made.
