ALMA (KFSM) - When a player has a big junior season, a lot of times production or experience as a sophomore has something to do with that.
That couldn't be farther from the truth for Alma linebacker Gabe Jensen. The now senior did not even play football in 2017 but that didn't slow him down last fall.
"Putting his feet in the fire right off the bat and he got better and better," Alma coach Doug Loughridge said. "He got his body physically ready to go."
"Doing whatever I can to help better the team," Jensen said. "Whatever I can progress at as an individual player as the mindset is to help the team. That’s what I think a lot of this team does. We’re not selfish and that’s what I’m proud of."
Jensen made 85 stops and earned all-conference honors in his first season as a high school football player but that kind of success is rare for a player who skips their 10th grade year.
"Kids don’t realize that when you don’t come out your sophomore year, you come back in as a sophomore," Loughridge said. "He progressed really quickly to go to the lengths that he did to get to where he was as a junior. Really spoke to his overall athletic ability."
Jensen is the unquestioned leader of the Alma defense but having a player with that last name leading the charge for the Airedales is nothing new. The Jensen name runs deep and that is a tradition at Alma that the now senior is proud to be apart of.
"Really a blessing," he said. "I’ve had great examples of how to be on and off the field and I thank God every single day for putting in the family and position I’m in."
