Centaur Mekhi Ware has Five Interceptions in Nine Games

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Huma Manjra, Staff Writer

It is a loud Friday night as the clock hits seven. Cornerback Mekhi Ware bursts through the locker room and jogs out towards the football field, his footsteps pounding, leaving a resonating impact. He whips his head to the left where he takes in the audience jumping up and down, chanting, and creating a charge of electricity and energy. Up front, he takes in the scene that flashes before his eyes: the coaches collaborating the game plan, the opposing team huddled up, and the Friday night lights illuminating, bringing the field to life. In his left hand, Ware tightly holds his helmet and in the right, he humbly holds the title of being one of the top five interceptors in the nation for the class of 2017.

As of a few weeks ago, Culver City’s very own junior Mekhi Ware is ranked #5 in the nation for the class of 2017 with nine interceptions in five games. Ware has started out his first year of Varsity impeccably strong and has created an impacting amount of noise for himself. His performance as a starter for both offense and defense in the game has led him to skyrocketing statuses. He is recognized as one of the top cornerbacks of the 2017 class in Southern California. His first interception this season was made against West Torrance High School. His next interception was made playing against San Pedro High School and three more interceptions after that against UNI High School. Lastly, Ware hit it home and won his exceptionally high rank with three interceptions made against Channel Island High School.

Ware was moved up from Junior Varsity to Varsity during playoffs and was given high expectations from the coaching staff. Specifically, the training that Ware endures is to make him a faster, bigger, and stronger player. He takes his football career further than just practicing and training by studying video tapes of a variety of games and focuses a large part of his attention on plays.

When asked on his reaction towards this accomplishment, Ware says, “Football and sports in general has been a huge part of my life and my family’s since the beginning so this is something I have dreamed of all my life.” For Ware, the past few exhilarating weeks have been such “an important time of my life.” Ware is extremely motivated to work even harder. His focus is to achieve higher stats and continue to be noticed by the numerous colleges that already have an eye out for him. However, Ware comments on how he is reacting to all this new publicity, saying, “It’s really easy to get big headed with this status and attention but I didn’t want to get cocky especially since I have important games coming up.”

Ware couldn’t have reached this success without his incredible support system, pushing him and guiding him every step of the way. He thanks his dad, his coach for life, for being tough on him and leading him to the place he is at today. Ware is extremely grateful for all the help his mom has provided for him off the field. Lastly Ware mentions that his coaches and teammates are a huge part of his success. He thanks Coach Jahmal Wright and Coach Anthony Thomas for continuously guiding him and says, “I wouldn’t be here without them.”

When asked about his reaction towards Ware’s accomplishment, Coach Wright answers, “I’m extremely proud of Mekhi and especially the way he is representing Culver City football.” Wright says it is truly an honor to have such a talented and hardworking player playing for him.

At the end of the day, it’s work ethic and effort that gets one to achieve such success. While explaining his thoughts on his success in football, Ware says that the instructions and the game plan the coaches provide are “like a blueprint where you just follow the step” and the rest is about playing with your heart and whatever happens, happens.