Nate Goodin runs for a touchdown during the first half of the Williamsburg Jackets vs. Harlan Green Dragons football game. Nate, a quarterback, scored three touchdowns and the majority of the 38 points earned by his team.
As the quarterback for the Williamsburg High School Yellow Jackets, Nate makes a pass to Holden, a lifelong friend and fellow teammate.
Nate began playing football and baseball at nine years old, surrounded by the same coaches, teachers, and, for the most part, classmates. He’s an all-around athlete, playing basketball while also running track and field, competing in the long and high jumps. He won state championships in both.
“I didn’t even want to be a quarterback initially. I wanted to play defense, but my coach asked me to do it, so I did,” Nate recalls later, sitting in his basement decorated with the heads of deer he and his father have hunted, mounted on the wall.
Nate is not only a leader on the field, he’s a leader in the community and at home.
His brother, Dalton, suffered from severe epilepsy before dying of a heart attack at the age of 20 in 2020. Nate was a constant caretaker for Dalton along with his mother, father, and sister. “His brother would be calling out to him and having trouble sleeping, and Nate would just drop what he was doing most nights and crawl into bed with him,” says his father, Ernie.
Nate, 18, is devoted to helping others, whether through peer tutoring or volunteering with the Little League baseball team, to a simple fist bump in the hallway with younger school children who pass him by in the mornings. Celebrating his community is extremely important.
“It’s a lot of pressure, it can feel really overwhelming, kind of almost all-consuming,” he says.
“But I love going into school because I get to see my friends. My whole community is there for me to support me whenever it gets to be too much.”
Friday night, with the lights of the football field beaming down through trees blazing in golden fall colors, Nate scores three touchdowns during the Homecoming game, and multiple two-point conversions. The Jackets beat the Green Dragons, 38-0.
The team screams in joy, picking each other up and colliding helmets. Nate sits on the sidelines, smiling calmly towards the turf.
“I’m so happy to be here, that we won. And we can just say to everyone that we are district champions,” he says. “They’re so happy, and that makes me happy, too.”
Nate talks to one of his good friends, Cooper Prewitt, before practice on Thursday.
Nate kisses his girlfriend, Lynsie Durham after the Williamsburg beat Harlan during the homecoming game.
Head Coach Jerry Herron and assistant coach Vaughn Hatcher speak with Nate during practice.
Nate and fellow players rest in the game review room, next to their locker room, before dressing in their uniforms for the Homecoming game.
"Broccoli" by DRAM plays over the speakers in the locker room and Nate raps along.
Nate works as a table cleaner, a part-time job within the school's co-op program. He often talks to students who are sitting alone.
Nate prepares his crossbow with a tracking bolt as he hunts deer near his home. "Hunting is so peaceful. It works really well to take my mind off things, even if it's just a little bit."
Nate pets his dog, Milly, on his mother's bed before getting ready for his homecoming football game.
"It's funny," Nate says. "When I was a kid, I never talked to the football players, but nowadays these kids are different. I try to be there for them though." Nate connects with Kayson Brock, the son of his football coach.