He hustles, he hits, and he never quits! Jakob Goerke, senior, has been playing football since he was five-years-old. He is one of the starting linebackers and is also the defensive captain. Jakob’s dad, brother, and two of his uncles have played for Sahuaro in the past years, which makes him a Sahuaro legacy.

Jakob has played football for a total of 13 years, three of them on our own varsity team. When his parents signed him up for football his love kicked off, and has been playing ever since. In middle school, he played for a Pop Warner team, the Tucson Wildcats. The moment he started high school, he was already on the football team.

He describes football as a way to get his anger and frustration out, help keep his grades up, and forget about his “outside of the field” problems.  The most challenging thing about playing football to Jakob is he is “stepping into a lot of shoes.” He is following his uncles’ and dad’s legacy that they left here at Sahuaro, although he does have some bragging rights.  He is the only Goerke to ever beat Sabino playing them as a freshman (he scored his first touchdown during this game).  Another challenging thing is the injuries attained from playing this sport. Jakob has had two concussions and a broken collar bone. These injuries did not stop our star player from playing football. Jakob stated, “The worst part about having a concussion junior year was missing the last game of the season.”

When asked if he plans on doing something with football in his future, Jakob responded, “No, I’d rather do architecture.” He wants to do something with math and art because it seems “kinda fun.” After high school Jakob is going to Pima Community College. It has been one of Jakob’s dreams to become an architect. Even though Jakob is not going to continue on the football field after graduation, he will still have his memories from playing. His favorite memory is being with everyone on the team. The Varsity team is pretty close to one another.

Jakob’s family legacy will continue even after he graduates. Bella Goerke, junior, is a cousin of Jakob and is currently playing softball. Mati Goerke, sophomore, is his sister and is also playing softball. Kohl Goerke, freshman, is his cousin and is playing football for Sahuaro. Lastly, Lilly Goerke, freshman, is a swimmer. You could say Jakob’s family is into sports!