Marcos Reyes, a senior business administration student and captain of the Chapman football team, is an intricate piece of the squad. 

The running back, during his first year on the squad, was quickly ranked second on the team with 6.4 yards per carry and nine touchdowns. His 57-yard run against Pomona-Pitzer was the longest Chapman run of the season.

That same year he was named Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Newcomer of the Year and was First Team All-Conference along with being SCIAC All-Academic. 

Moving on to his junior year, he was again ranked second on the team with 366 yards rushing, four rushing touchdowns with a season high 33-yard rushing touchdown. 

This year, in his last campaign with the Panthers, he was named team captain. So far has three touchdowns on the season. 

The Panther spoke with Reyes about his football journey and how he got to this point with inspiration from his own family and those in the NFL. 

“I started playing football when I was six years old. I’m glad that my dad decided to sign me up.” Reyes said. “I guess so when I actually had a choice to play it was just like something that I always thought was fun and I like the competitiveness. Along with the team aspect of this, just being out in the field is just always fun for me.”

The running back credits his family along with those in the NFL who inspired him to keep going with the sport. 

“I'm always watching football professionals,” Reyes said. “I kind of always wanted to be like them. Troy Polamalu is a Steelers safety who was one of my favorite players. Along with Ray Lewis and Randy Moss — watching them play, it always kind of inspired me. Other than that, my grandpa used to always drive me to the practices. My mom was always there to give me motivation and just be supportive, along with my brother, too, who played ahead of me.”

With the support of his family, Reyes attributes his success in his position to his overall positive outlook on the process in the sport. 

“I just fell in love with the process and the grind,” Reyes said. “I'm not really like complaining about working hard because I know, it's like making me better. Winners do what losers don't, which is staying positive knowing why you're running or doing conditioning and  just having a positive mindset.”

To add, he also attributes his ability to just have fun with the game as well to his success. 

“Just having fun with it is the thing to do,” Reyes said. “Even though it sucks when you're running, conditioning or you're lifting weights and it's burning. You just have to think of the reason just to believe and you'll see some of the benefits of all your struggles.”

With that mindset, it took the senior back to his most favorite memory in his career of being a Panther. 

“My favorite memory is when we went to our conference championship my freshman year, but there is something to be proud of every year,” Reyes said. “There's always little things that come back to me that I enjoy just kind of thinking about but definitely the SCIAC Championships is always like the best memory.”

Fans can catch the captain and his team in action Oct. 15 as they take on Redlands University at 7 p.m. on Wilson Field.