Sunday, August 20, 2017

Alexandra Buchanan is the real deal

McKinley didn’t get the win it was searching for on Saturday night, but the Tigers might have found their quarterback.

Oh, and it just happens to be a girl.

Alexandria Buchanan, summoned from the JV team, made her first varsity appearance and was 7-for-16 with 135 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. However, the Tigers fell 27-26 to Kalaheo at Skippa Diaz Stadium and are still looking for their first win since 2013.

“I just joined the varsity team this Tuesday. They moved me up after some consideration,” Buchanan said after the game. “It means a lot. This is my team; they’re like my second family, so it feels great to be able to play with them.”

The McKinley-partisan crowd was rocking on Saturday night in Kalihi, and the Tigers roster seemed to double that of Kalaheo, which had forfeited its matchup against Waipahu the previous week.  Mustangs coach Darrell Poole was inspired by the iron man performance of his team. Almost every Mustang played on both sides of the ball.

In addition to the team’s size, he knew facing Buchanan would be a challenge after previously watching her play on the JV team.

“She’s the real deal. You give her more time and she can throw with the best of them,” Poole said. “To me, it was awesome. I told my boys she’s gonna complete some passes against us. Hat’s off to her.”

*** [9/7/17]

She’s a 4.0 student, class president, assistant editor of the school newspaper and plays center on the girls basketball team.

“It’s kind of hard managing all those different activities, but they’re things I’m really interested in,” says Alexandria Buchanan, a 15-year-old sophomore at McKinley High School.

She also has a passing interest in football.

That’s not “passing” as in a casual curiosity about the game, that’s “passing” in the sense of throwing the ball. In addition to all of the above, Buchanan happens to be the varsity football team’s starting quarterback.

*** [9/16/17]

McKinley defeats Waialua to break four-year losing streak

*** [9/17/17]

Buchanan did her part

No comments: