- March 4, 2025
Frank Giovanucci is ready for the Red, White and Blue workout. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Nathan Hidalgo does the "Hammer" workout honoring 1st Sgt. Michael Bordelon. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas players warm up before they begin the workout. Photo by Brent Woronoff
KJ Gilpin (glasses) and other Matanzas players do the barbell exercises. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas head coach Matt Forrest talks to his players before the workout. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Incoming freshman Tyson Landon listens to the workout instructions. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Matanzas student athlete training aides Kiara Da Costa and Gabby Duncan. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Chance Neel and Thomas Neel listen to pre-workout instructions in the weight room. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Jon-Anthony Mateo power cleans. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Brendon Friendly, John Vazques and Josiah Powell run a lap around the track. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Rilee Roberts (left) Fred Giovanucci and Brady Putis (back, left) run around the track to begin one of the five rounds of the workout. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Quarterback Jackson Lundahl at the Pirates' Red, White and Blue workout. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Cyrus Chen does the power clean as part of the Hammer workout honoring fallen hero Army 1st Sgt. Michael "Hammer" Bordelon. Photo by Brent Woronoff
KJ Gilpin takes a breather. Photo by Brent Woronoff
The Pirates normally ended their daily Phase 1 workouts on "the farm," the area behind their weight room, where they flip tractor tires and push the sleds. Photo by Brent Woronoff
U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Michael "Hammer" Bordelon, died in 2005 from injuries incurred in Iraq when a car bomb exploded near his military vehicle.
The Matanzas High School football team honored Bordelon on Thursday, June 27, with its annual Red, White and Blue workout.
For the fourth straight year, the Pirates did a CrossFit Hero Workout of the Day, honoring a fallen hero.
The Red, White and Blue Workout ended Phase 1 of the team’s summer workout schedule. Since Phase 1 ends in the week leading up to the Fourth of July, the team celebrates with a cookout and a game of Pirate Ball (a modified version of Ultimate Frisbee using a football) following the morning workout. They wear red, white and blue workout clothes as they honor a fallen veteran.
This workout has a lot more meaning for us.”
— CADEN BURCHFIELD, Matanzas quarterback
“This workout has a lot more meaning for us,” quarterback Caden Burchfield said.
The Pirates’ modified “Hammer” workout consisted of five rounds of a 400-meter run (a lap around the track), then barbell exercises of five power clean reps, 10 front squats and five jerks (lifting the weights overhead from the shoulders) followed by 20 pushups face-to-face with a partner.
The players had 90 seconds of rest time between each round.
After describing the workout, coach Matt Forrest told the players, “For us to be able to do what we do, to play football, to go to school, to have access to education and access to all the things that we have in this country, there is a long line of people that have fought and paid the ultimate price.”
“If you forget about the sacrifices that people made to get you to this point,” Forrest said, “then how can you progress and make things better in the future? Remember the sacrifices that people made for you, what they did in order to propel you forward. Be appreciative and don’t forget.”
In addition to honoring First Sgt. Bordelon, the day’s activities was a chance for the players to bond, quarterback Jackson Lundahl said.
“The workout is the highlight, but we have a lot of bonding as well,” he said.
During Phase 1 of their summer schedule, Matanzas players worked out in the mornings Monday through Thursday. They spent about 50 minutes of weight training, 25 minutes of track speed work and 25 minutes “on the farm.” The farm is an area outside of the weight room where they flip tractor tires and push sleds.
The day after the Red, White and Blue workout, the Pirates competed in Bethune-Cookman University’s Kings of the Beach 7v7 tournament. After that, they have a week off before Phase 2 of the summer schedule begins followed by preseason practice which kicks off on July 29.
Lundahl and Burchfield plan to spend part of their off week working on throwing dynamics.
We do some individual training and we do some training together,” Burchfield said. “We try to make each other better.”
