At the start of fall, senior tight end Luke Ratterman didn’t know if he was going to suit up for his senior year. As the possibility of a season approaches, he and his teammates are excited about the idea of finally scrimmaging, and quite possibly lining up against a team with a different colored uniform in the very near future. 
    “It honestly feels very surreal,” said Ratterman. “We have been preparing for this for about 5 months and we are ready to take the field. We are excited to start games and hope the season goes as planned with further restrictions, healthy players.”
    While the season isn’t finalized and the team doesn’t have a schedule yet, the players and coaches are highly hopeful that by next week, the Jr. Bills will be competing and back on the field again.
    “It’s not certain who we are playing, but hopefully, we do have a season,” said senior offensive lineman Zack Stevenson. 
While the team can control some aspects of the speed at which play will resume, like the health and safety of their own players, there are some factors that are more dependent upon the SLUH community as a whole. 
    “I think the biggest impacting factor is that school is back in session,” said Athletic Director Chris Muskopf. “Whether it’s in a hybrid format like we (SLUH) are or even back to full schedule, the lack of spread we’ve seen so far is why we are taking steps forward.”
    The restrictions, while dwindling, are still present. The team is allowed to have 60 player practices, and is even preparing to have an intrasquad scrimmage this Friday. However, the confirmation of a schedule for the year hasn’t been given the green light just yet. Even though their season isn’t confirmed, the feeling is that football is close to coming back. If no outbreaks or COVID-19-related issues, which could vary from a spread in the classroom or on the field, the Junior Billikens could quite possibly be suiting up next Friday, October 9th.
    “We’re in pads, so that brings a certain level of hitting,” said senior wide receiver Jack Maclelland. “If you’re not in full pads, you can’t really hit in the way you would in a game, but you can get as close as you can to how it would be in a real game.”
    “We are very close,” said Head Coach Mike Jones. “The kids are sensing that and we have seen the excitement level rise.”
    The squad is extremely hopeful that next Friday will mark the beginning of a long delayed and desired season, but the process of confirming a season isn’t officially over yet. The schools in the city of Saint Louis and the Saint Louis Health Department haven’t come to terms on certain questions about how football will be efficiently safe in the pandemic. 
    “There’s still some back and forth to be done to understand what our capacities and needs are going to be,” said Muskopf.“Some of the biggest questions are that if we get a case, who are we notifying, and who is involved in that notification process. Thus far, we’re notifying teachers, people who were in classes, and coaches.”
As far as weekly progress goes, the team has an intrasquad scrimmage scheduled for this Friday, which is one of the final steps prior to being allowed to compete. 
“We are excited to see how our guys play,” said Jones. “It has been a long time since we have played a full football game.”
The team is more than ready to play. The players are excited to be back, even though the schedule isn’t confirmed. However, the safety of the school as a whole, according to the City Health Department, is more important than the timing of the season. 
    In years past the Jr. The Bills have had a more running style playbook, but with a wide receiver core that looks very promising in Isaac Thompson and Chris Brooks Junior, the Jr. Billiken offense might be taking some more deep shots this year.
“This year, we have a lot of really good receivers and a good quarterback,” said Stevenson. “We have to really work on our pass pro game which we haven’t done for a bit, but it’s just another challenge to overcome.”
The quarantine has brought interesting challenges for players to stay in shape. They can’t go to the gym together because of the risk that it would bring, and the restrictions in general have kept the players apart. However, players have figured out how to make it work from home with the help of their coaches and their teamattes.
    “Personally I’ve been working out, lifting weights and meeting outside of practice throwing the ball,” said Johnston.
    “Coach (Adam) Cruz sends us daily workouts, Coach Alick Wallingsford sends us workouts as well so there's no excuse to not get some work in.” said Stevenson.
    “The coaches did a phenomenal job at putting out home workouts for us,” said first-year senior defensive back Jonathan Grimes. “Ultimately though, it was the players who had to stay committed and hold each other accountable for getting those workouts in. Now that we’re almost there, it’s great to see that hard work hopefully pay off.”
With the COVID concern, the starting lineup could change on a week-to-week basis. The team does face a struggle because of their lack of depth at the offensive line position, so it is key that the line remains in good health. 
    “These past couple years we’ve dealt with a lot of injuries,” said Stevenson. “We have a lot of seniors on the offensive of line so we don’t have many other options and this is our last year rolling together.”
    The excitement of football is definitely in the air, and the Junior Billiken football team is waiting for any chance to take the field and compete. But, the schedule that the team desperately wants is not a reality yet. 
    “There’s optimism, but there’s no guarantee,” said Muskopf.