Marcellus Chandler is a player with lots of determination, passion, heart, and grit. He is a natural leader and gives his all to his team who continually works hard on and off the field. He is an overall well rounded student and player. As an undersized player in height for his position, Chandler definitely doesn’t let that get in the way of him being such a great player.

Marcellus Chandler, or Cellus, has been an athlete for several years now, mainly playing football. He had played for many organizations before moving to Solano County. Prior to attending Vanden High School he had heard about our team and came to us to play. When he tried out, he made it onto the team, and since then he has been improving at a steady rate. His coach, Mr. Ott described how Chandler advanced to Varsity at the end of last year’s season because of his skill, ability, and knowledge of the game.

Since he has been playing for such a long time, Chandler became used to the sacrifices he had to make being an athlete. He couldn’t hang out with his friends as much and gave up a lot of sleep because of long practices everyday.  He had to focus and balance two things that would decide his future; football and his studies. Yet Chandler still achieved good grades while finding a way to juggle football games, practices, and studying the actual game itself.

When he was younger, his uncle passed away while he was in football. This caused a lot of disruption in his life and he almost dropped out of the program. But he didn’t because he knew his uncle wouldn’t have wanted him to drop out. So he continued on for himself, his uncle, and his family. Clearly Cellus has good morals and knows what he wants and has no regrets with any of the decisions he has made in his football career so far.

The game on October 7, 2022 against Vacaville High School was one game that everybody was invested in, especially Cellus as a player. “We never beat Vaca high before, that was one of the ‘good’ teams we’ve played. So, I wanted to show other people that we’re a good team.” said Marcellus Chandler when talking about why this game was so important to him. This game was extremely important and personal to the crowd and players on this field.

It was most definitely a good experience for the players as well. The crowd was packed more than it usually was, which was a little nerve racking for some of the players. Cellus said it was putting some pressure on him, especially being a starter and playing almost every position on the field. This was a big drive for him to keep going and going until it was too much. “It was a good experience,” he said, “it helped me learn some new things about the game.”

Cellus is an amazing player with tons of fans and the important support of his family to help him. He is strong for taking on the role of student athlete — one who doesn’t give up no matter how hard life gets. He truly is an inspiration.