Henry Buenostro, a junior at FHS, is one of the quarterbacks of the FHS 2023-24 varsity football team. This season marks his third year playing on the team.
He has been playing football since 7-years-old, and has been working hard to make it to the top. A good quarterback has to manage their time and responsibilities well, which includes keeping up with academics and making it to practice on time.
“I [prioritize] my academics first. I do homework, I do it real quick before practice,” Buenostro said.
Buenrostro also carries a lot of responsibility during games. Quarterbacks require quick decision-making skills, as well as throwing accuracy and power. Of course, having a lot of responsibility, especially during a big game, can be stressful. FHS varsity football coach Rob Swartz knows that pressure is not a problem for Buenrostro.
“When he’s under pressure, he doesn’t get flustered,” Swartz said. “He keeps his composure under pressure. I think that’s the key.”
The FHS team has won four of the five games that they have played so far this season; their loss being the first game, which was against Palo Alto High School. With such an early loss, it can be hard to stay motivated, but the wins make it worthwhile.
“We just keep our heads up,” Buenrostro said.
“We’re going to try our hardest till the game ends.”
An athlete’s time in high school is the most important part of their athletic career; it is the time when they begin growing into adults and drastically improve their skills.
“He’s bigger, stronger and faster than he was as a freshman. But even as a freshman, he was a hitter, and a hard runner,” Swartz said.
Improvement like this does not come by luck, but is the result of hard work over many years. Since Buenrostro is a junior, he has this season and the 2024-25 season to keep getting better with the FHS team.
Attitude is everything when it comes to sports. A player’s attitude can decide the outcome of the game as a whole. Attitude includes how they act during practice, how they play during the game, how they react to a loss and much more.
“He goes full speed,” Swartz said. “He never backs down and he brings a high level of physical play for the game.”
Giving your all during gameplay is the only way to succeed, and Buenrostro has been demonstrating this during his time on the FHS team. But, he also knows that practice is just as important as games.
“I come out here to the field and try my hardest for this team.” Buenrostro said.
No matter what sport it is, setting goals is without a doubt one of the best ways to stay motivated and track progress. Goals vary from athlete to athlete, but setting high goals can also improve athletes as a whole.
“To get to the next level, [I’m] trying to play college [foot]ball, D1, and just trying to make it to the NFL and help out my family,” Buenrostro said.
That being said, Division 1 in college and NFL are both very difficult goals to achieve. It will ultimately come down to how well he performs for the rest of his high school career. And as of right now, his attitude and work ethic puts him on the path to success.
Buenrostro’s football career is just getting started; he has a long way ahead of him. But if one thing is for sure, it would be that the quarterback of the FHS varsity football team is a one-of-a-kind player that has everything it takes to rise to the top.
