Towards the end of summer, sophomore Bryan Ngouzo put on his helmet and started his first practice on varsity football. Ngouzo plays both offense and defense, he plays wide receiver for offense and cornerback for defense. Ngouzo initially started playing football because of a game he watched with his uncle. It was his favorite team, the New York Giants and they were playing the Dallas Cowboys. “I remember seeing Odell Beckham Jr. make that one-handed catch and ever since then I started watching NFL highlights on my TV and I started watching Giants games and then started playing outside at the park and the field near my house,” Ngouzo said.
At the beginning of the summer, Hicks did not know that Ngouzo was going to start both ways. He knew that Ngouzo had played well during the seven-on-seven games that they played during the summer, but seven-on-seven is played without pads and is a much different game than tackle football. “When we started practices we knew we had Jake Kelly and Daniel Kim at receiver but Bryan really started balling out and playing at a skill level that I knew I could play him and then I saw him playing defense and locking down our receivers,” Hicks said.
Ngouzo is not just a player for the varsity football team, he is also a wing on the JV basketball team. “Bryan is a physical and athletic player, he’s got good size, good strength, and he has really good court awareness,” coach Erick Graves said.
Ngouzo is one of the biggest members of the team. He helps raise the spirits and confidence levels of all the players around him. “It helps that he hangs out around some of the varsity guys and they show him how to be a leader,” Graves said.
Ngouzo says that his biggest supporters are his mom and his best friend, sophomore defensive end Jarvis Tchakounte. “Bryan is a really good friend and we motivate each other to do well,” Tchakounte said.
One thing that seems to be consistent is that everyone points out his big smile and his loud laugh. His smile uplifts people especially the team whenever the mood is down. “His enthusiasm and playful tendencies play a big role, his big smile helps uplift the team, and he also has a loud laugh that can be heard from far away,” Hicks said.
His favorite moment from basketball was when the JV team was playing Walt Whitman and they were down by 15 points and ended up coming back and winning. His favorite moment from football was when he scored a touchdown during a playoff game. “His mood affects the team, he’s wearing some big leadership shoes,” Graves said.
