In the athletics world, news of a rising star athlete is music to everyone’s ears—especially at FHC. Sports at FHC are taken very seriously, so when a freshman rolls in with talent and loaded with potential, it is one thing that is never missed. Matt Sexton is one of those rising stars.

Matt Sexton is a 6′ 3″, 200-pound 14-year-old freshman who is big news to the world of athletics. Not only is he built as an athlete, he plays two different sports at FHC: football and basketball. Outside of school, he plays baseball and is strongly considering making FHC baseball his third sport this upcoming spring. Recently, he was pulled up to the varsity football team for the 2022 playoff run. This opportunity given to him was a shock as he started on the combined JV football team in the beginning of the season. Matt and I had a conversation about his football journey this year as it has been one you don’t regularly see a freshman go through.

“I started off the season on freshman but we combined teams. I started on JV as a freshman which I thought was really cool and it meant a lot to me. When we joined teams, during the first play of my first JV game I was nervous. I didn’t expect much of a change from freshman to JV football, but there was a drastic one.”

At the time, Matt would’ve never believed that he would eventually be pulled up to varsity later that season. When he heard the news in the late stages of the season, he felt blessed. When asked why he thought he was pulled up, he answered, “I think it is because I worked hard and always tried to do my best on and off the field. It means a lot to me that the coaches gave me this opportunity to step up to a higher level of football. I am pretty sure that I am one of the youngest players on the team, and this is awesome because I am exposed to a varsity level environment at 14- years-old.”

Beyond the realm of football, Matt is an extraordinary basketball player as he plays AAU and travels around the country. He hopes that when school ball tryouts roll around, his hard work is shown through his team placement this winter. Every talented athlete has a partner in crime, and his was Connor Johnson. Connor Johnson recently transferred to GRC and Matt was devastated but happy for him.

“Connor Johnson was my best friend and I thought we were gonna go through high school playing basketball together and be a dynamic duo but he transferred to GRC,” Matt said. Dynamic duos—especially when they are freshman are fun to follow. A prime example of a best friend/talented athlete duo we had at FHC was Connor Milton and Jacob Bonnett. It is rare to come across friendships inside and outside of sports, so Matt was bummed that his best friend left.

In addition to football and basketball, Matt plays baseball. Although he isn’t sure whether he is playing this year or not, he is still gifted with an incredible swing and pitch. Matt stated, “Baseball is a sport I play for fun just to keep myself active during the off-season, but now since I’m more committed to football and basketball, I’m using that downtime to train for those two seasons.”

Matt has been training vigorously for all three sports since he was 12-years-old. He goes to the gym everyday during the offseason to train, grow, and improve as an athlete. He enjoys playing with older competition to work on his skills and be in a more fast-paced environment. During a conversation we had, he emphasized that he is extremely excited for what the future holds for him sports-wise.

As someone who watched Matt grow up since elementary school, I am incredibly proud of the person and athlete he has become. Matt is set up for success and is meant to do big things. Whether it is in the fall, winter, or spring, you will see Matt Sexton on the field or court  building his foundation for the next three years of high school sports to come. Putting in extra effort, being extremely active playing three different sports, and overall being a great human-being are all attributes which make him one of the best upcoming athletes of FHC.