By Christian Andriolas – Staff Reporter 

Jonathan Law junior and starting quarterback John Neider has led the Lawmen to an impressive start to the 2021 football season. 

The team has a 2-2 record as of October 4.

In their first two wins combined, Neider threw six touchdowns. He had four in their 34-7 win against Guilford, and two in their 42-18 win against Bassick in just the first half alone.

This is especially impressive because Neider is a converted wide receiver, and is playing his first season at quarterback. 

“It wasn’t a very easy transition at first when I found out six months ago I was switching to quarterback,” Neider said. “With work on the field for months with my teammates, it seems like the hard work I put in is paying off.” 

Even though the team lost to Stratford on September 4, they played a great game and feel good about their chances moving forward.

“The team played hard, and never quit, and I felt we played a pretty good game, and we can use this loss as a lesson to help us get better in the future,” senior wide receiver Anthony Andriolas said. 

The Lawmen are hoping for another stellar performance from Neider in their upcoming games. Although the game against Stratford did not end the way they wanted it to, Neider still totaled four touchdowns.

“John’s ability to run adds a great dimension to our offense,” head coach Chris Haley said. “More importantly though is that he models a ‘shut up and work’ mentality.’” 

Neider’s work ethic and mentality has rubbed off on the whole team. They believe they can reach their full potential and their goals of making the state tournament this year.  

“It’s really good to have such a hard worker like John on our team, he inspires all of us to get better,” sophomore Jack Bretthauer said. “Because of that, we all work harder. This will help lead us to the state tournament.”

Neider is much more to the team than just their quarterback, and his athleticism is not is not what best defines him.

“People are quick to highlight how great an athlete John Neider is; John Neider isn’t a great athlete,” Haley said. “John Neider just simply outworks people, in training, in practice, and in games. He makes zero excuses, zero complaints about anything. It’s a great example for our young guys; that ‘Great Athletes’ are built; not born.”

His leadership and play doesn’t just affect the offense, it helps the defense as well. 

“John leading the offense lets the defense play more comfortably because of how well they play,” sophomore linebacker JT Nelly said. “The better the offense does, the better the defense does because of momentum and big plays.”