SHS football believes family is a crucial value to achieve success. Without it, their team wouldn’t be heading in the new direction that it is going in now.

One key example of this is two brothers: senior Malachi Kennedy and junior Jeremiah Stanovic.

Both play defense for the Cards and use their competitiveness to contribute to the team.

“Anytime you have guys who are actually blood family, it feeds into that mentality that these guys are all brothers whether they are actually related or not,” head coach Alex Bettag said.

Now as a junior and a senior for the Cards, the duo continues to use their brotherly bond to help their team.

The brothers believe that being on the same team has brought them closer together both on the field and in their day-to-day lives.

Kennedy and Stanovic agree that they always have each other’s backs and know how to bring each other back up when they feel down.

“Anytime I need anything, my brother is there. He helps me whenever I need it,” Stanovic said. “He’s kind of like that backup coach for me.”

From a young age, Kennedy and Stanovic always knew they had a passion for football.

It was common for them to be found in their yard throwing a football. They began playing together as children and have many memories from it.

“We’ve been playing together for a long time,” Stanovic said. “I think it’s definitely brought us together.”

They thrive off of competing against one another, whether that be during practice or even on game days.

Considering how close the pair is, they typically know what each other’s next moves are going to be, so the two often find it fun to go up against each other on the field at practice.

“I like when he gets reps on offense because it’s always fun to be able to tackle your little brother,” Kennedy said.

Last season was very special for the brothers. The Cards had been on a losing streak since the 2021-22 season and finally broke it on the night of the Homecoming game.

Their first win was a groundbreaking moment for the two, and they are looking forward to more of those moments in the future.

“We always have the same mindsets going into Friday nights, so when we won our first game on Homecoming night last year, it was really exciting,” Kennedy said. “We got to play on the same side of the ball, so it was really cool.”

There’s no doubt that the brothers want to win every Friday night, but their performance isn’t the only thing they prioritize.

Kennedy and Stanovic also believe that it is important to become the best versions of themselves aside from football.

Over the years, the coaching staff has valued shaping their players to be successful after graduation.

“They’ve both grown tremendously as football players and as young men over the last couple years,” Bettag said. “They’re the kind of guys that Southport football wants to put their name on.”