What sparked your interest in football?

Solano: “My older brother. I always wanted to be like him. He loved the New England Patriots so I started watching football with him back in South America. I then started playing in 8th grade.”

Tibodeau: “You know, I just like the sport in general. I like hitting people. It’s just kinda clicked since day one.”

Have you ever had a coach that specifically inspired you inside and outside of the game or just the most notable and significant coach you remember?

Solano: “I have two answers for that, all of my coaches have inspired me but two of them stand out a lot. Number one, Tonkin. He’s been there for me since 8th grade when he was my first football coach. And then Coach Petschl who has completely changed the culture of Shorewood football for the better.”

Tibodeau: “It definitely is Coach Petschl. He inspired me to be better every day. I already wanted to be better, but when I came under Coach Petschl, he was like a friend every day. He wasn’t just a coach you know, he actually made an impact on all of us, I think.”

Was there an added pressure once you became captain?

Solano: “Oh yeah, and I didn’t expect anything less. I had always really wanted to be a captain because I had great captains in the past, but they were lackluster in some parts; I thought I could do better in those parts. For example, my freshman year, the upperclassmen didn’t care about the underclassmen. They were like, ‘You’re not on varsity, we don’t care about you’ but this year, the captains and I completely took that wall down and involved everybody. There’s a little bit of pressure, but I feel like the captains and I rose up to the challenge because we wanted that challenge.”

Tibodeau: “No because I’ve kinda been in a leadership position all four years. It wasn’t anything different. Captain is just a label you know. I’d try to lead people either way.”

How much of football is a mental game?

Solano: “A lot. Maybe a little too much. Sometimes, I wish we could just go out there and hit people but you gotta think, something I’m not very good at… You gotta make a play in seconds. That’s why you have great players like Hunter, who are able to do that. But yeah, too much thinking, it’s an underrated part of the game.”

Tibodeau: “At least 70% mental. Last year, not to call anyone out, we used to get really down on ourselves. But this year we really improved on that front. Like against Cascade, they scored first but we bounced back and kept an even keel. If you get down, you lose.”

How did it feel to regain the rotary cup?

Solano: “It was really awesome because I never won the rotary cup, I always got my butt whooped every single time we played. It just feels good to finally take it.”

Tibodeau: “Oh my gosh. That was like heaven. That’s what I wanted since freshman year. We had just came off the win against Snohomish which we haven’t done in school history and then we took back the Rotary Cup which we haven’t had since 2018. So we were on a little bit of a roll. It was a great way to end the year.”