About two-thirds through the 2012 high school football season in Jefferson, a ninth grader from Paton-Churdan named Noah Juergensen, made his varsity debut in the offensive line. He’s believed to be the first freshmen in modern day Ram football to start on the varsity in his first year of high school. Juergensen is now a stalwart for the Greene County Rams and is expected to contribute on both sides of the ball. He’s actually quite a bit lighter now than three years ago, but he’s a lot stronger. “As a freshman I was probably 6′ 3″ or 6’4″ and around 265 or 270. Today I’m between 6′ 5″ and 6’6″ and 225 pounds.”

He attributes a lot of physical conditioning and weight lifting to losing weight, yet gaining strength. Juergensen and his teammates hope for a big season starting on Friday night when the Rams go to Lake City to open the regular season vs. South Central Calhoun. It’s a 7 p.m. kickoff on KG98 and www.raccoonvalleyradio.com.