AKRON, Ohio — The nose for the ball carrier earned Alise Huron-Covington a starting linebacker spot on the Buchtel High School JV team. 

What You Need To Know

  • Alise Huron-Covington is the only girl on the Buchtel high school football team

  • She starts at linebacker for the JV team, and has seen time in varsity games

  • Huron-Covington has even gotten playing time as running back

Number 16 embraces contact. 

“It felt good," Huron-Covington said about making a tackle. "I knew where he was coming, so I had to take it. It got me started now. Next I go out there, I’m gonna get another one.”

She’s vocal, and she likes hitting. Huron-Covington is one of the gladiators on the gridiron.

“I like to make contact," she said. "I’m a real physical person. So I ain’t scared of nothing. Even if I do get hit or ran over on the field, I get back up; I’m ready to go again.”

She’s played since she was a freshman and she’s even gotten time as running back in varsity games.

Huron-Covington said she hopes to get more time this season and during her senior year. She said she has hopes of joining a women’s football league.

Playing with the guys, she said, will only make her better.

“They don’t let me like back down or nothing; they always bring me up [and] make sure I go harder the next play," she said. 

And she’s learning life lessons from the game. She springs back on her feet when she’s knocked down.

“That's just what I do," she said. "Everybody’s gonna get hit so it shouldn’t be no different for me."

She knows that whether it’s in life or being a linebacker, it’s up to her to make the play.