Freshman Matthew Mainord is on the varsity football team as a running back. Mainord is new to the district this year and also plays baseball. 

Pre-Game:

Favorite pre-game song: “As You Find Me” by Hillsong UNITED

Teammate you would want to be stranded on an island with: Kyle Branch

Position: Running back 

Favorite flavor of Gatorade: The blue kind

Go-to Whataburger order: Number one, with mustard lettuce and cheese, only

Athlete you look up to: Saquon Barkley

Years playing football: Four

Favorite sport besides football: Baseball

Favorite college team: Arkansas

Pre-game ritual: Pray 

Post-Game:

The Red Ledger: What are your future goals, football or otherwise?

Matthew Mainord: I hope to make it to a D1 college for, preferably, baseball, but if I can play both [football and baseball], that would be awesome. [I will] hopefully [go] to the big leagues one day.

TRL: Who inspires you?

MM: Jesus because we are supposed to live like him, even though we are far from him. It’s something to always chase, even though we’ll always fall short.

TRL: What goals do you have for this season?

MM: [My goal is to] win [the] state championship.

TRL: How has being a part of a team for so long changed you as a person?

MM: It really shows who you are. It shows your weak points [and] what you’re good at. [Being a part of a team] humbles you.

TRL: How has your family gotten you to where you are now? 

MM: They pretty much provide everything for me. They protect me in ways that sometimes I don’t appreciate at the time, but after a while, I do grow into it and see the importance of it.

TRL: What is your favorite memory as an athlete so far? 

MM: [My] favorite memory as an athlete is] going into the locker room and seeing all the guys after the John Paul [II] game. Just seeing all of them happy and jumping around in the locker room was fun.

TRL: What is it like to be a freshman on varsity?

MM: It’s definitely a challenge. You do get challenged a lot by the older guys. Sometimes it’s intimidating, but you gotta live up to it.

TRL: What was your experience moving into the district? 

MM: I really like it. I love all the people here. It was a lot different than what I expected; I went to a private school before where everybody was nice. I kind of had a little bit of a worse interpretation of public school, but Lovejoy [has] really turned that around into a positive attitude.

TRL: What do you enjoy about football?

MM: You get to work as a team. Sometimes I, and most people, get one track minded about [myself]. But, in football, it really shows you to do your job, and it’s not always about you. You can’t be the star player in every play.

TRL: How do you think playing both football and baseball has affected you as an athlete?

MM: In the offseason, you can train different elements in either your mental game or different muscles. It kind of gives you a break from the sport.