While watching a Friday night football game it may look like senior John Peters never leaves the field. Between playing defense and offense Peters is all over.
“I enjoy football to a certain point,” Peters said. “I want to make it so I go hard but it’s not sunshine and rainbows all the time, you go through adversity to get what you want and in order to get where you want to go.”
Peters is glad to contribute to his team on both offense and defense. Going into the game against Chesterton, he has three interceptions at safety and cornerback and 181 total yards at receiver with three touchdowns.
“It’s a big accomplishment to be playing both sides of the ball, and makes me love the sport even more,” he said.
Peters’ passion for football started at a young age.
“As a kid growing up, I always wanted to go to the NFL,” Peters said. “My big brother and players like Odell and Justin Jefferson inspired me to be better and go harder in the game and in life.”
Peters doesn’t like to dwell on his mistakes during his games.
“I don’t really think about mistakes because it’s always the next play and I just move on,” Peters said. “ If I mess up, I mess up you’re going to mess up out of the 100 something plays in the game.”
It’s not only an enjoyment for Peters, but a bit of a struggle to be playing both sides of the ball.
“It’s a little bit of both, just things like being tired plus headache and chest pains is something I struggle with.” Peters said “but there aren’t very many people that play both sides and go to college for it.”
Working with the track team, especially the constant workouts helped prepare Peters for the physical challenge.
“It takes a lot of speed and stamina to play the two roles I play,” Peters said. “Track helped a lot with my endurance.”
Peters explains how he gets through the game and gets to the win
“ We play together, read our keys, play with confidence, and believe in ourselves.” Peters said
Head coach Brad Seiss talks about Peters volubility to the team.
“John is very valuable on defense because he is a very instinctive player that always finds a way to get around the ball.” Seiss said, “He is also a good coverage person and good tackler as well as a WR his speed and ball skills make him good as well.”
Defensive coach Joshua Sabinas shares his reason for playing Peters on both sides.
“John was a back up corner as a sophomore, but was one of the top 4 WR’s. So he started as a WR, even though the position he was best at was corner.” Sabinas said, “As a Junior, he was one of the best Corners, so he started there, and was also one of the top WR’s so he started there as well.It takes a lot of conditioning, and a lot of film study to be good on both sides.”
