EAST HELENA — There’s nothing quite like a sticker to signify a job well done. And at East Helena’s football practice Wednesday evening, there were a whole lot of stickers.
Players earn stickers for doing good — on and off the field.
“Actually, I stole it from University of Michigan when (Jim) Harbaugh was there,” said East Helena head coach Tyler Murray. “I thought it was really cool. Just a way to recognize kids for not just performance on the field but other things they do — you know, the positive behavior that we want to see in the kids throughout school and community service and also football.”
No Vigilante seemed to have a more decorated helmet than sophomore quarterback and safety Chase Hager.
“All these ones that are like shields,” Hager said while pointing to the stickers on his helmet, “these are grade stickers, and you get them for having As in classes. And that’s one I strive to get, have as many as possible because grades are important.”
At the core of the pride stickers system seemed to be one word: motivation.
“It’s just like a way to motivate,” said Hager. “And pride, there’s a lot of pride that goes with the stickers — how they look on the helmet, the pride in getting them.”
Senior quarterback Jack Taylor seconded Hager’s assessment.
“The pride stickers, it gets the team motivated to play well, you know, go out there and play hard,” said Taylor. “The better you play on the field and the less mistakes you get, the more stickers you’ll get. And I think everybody thinks the more stickers you have on your helmet, the better you look, the cooler you look — you know, translates to how you play, I guess.”
But there is one sticker that’s not on any helmets yet: the rampage sticker. It’s only awarded once the team wins three games in a row, something the Vigilantes can accomplish Friday night when they host Havre.
“I think even after we beat Glendive when we got on the bus, they were talking about a rampage sticker,” said Murray. “And I told them on Monday, ‘Hey ... we built this three-game win streak rampage sticker for a situation like this, where this is a big game ... hoping that we’d be in a spot like this.’ And yeah, we’re here.”
Taylor said the rampage sticker is the one he doesn’t yet have that he wants the most.
“That rampage one for sure,” said Taylor. “Get a rampage sticker, all of us, the whole team. (It) signifies that we can get three wins, play as a team, get that far, and then maybe even achieve that playoff sticker. That’d be great.”
