Our high school has had the highest enrollment of any high school in the state. It varies from year to year, but it's always near the top. Competition for playing time on the football team can be tough.
Entering his freshman year, my son was on the fence regarding playing another year of Ute Conference or going to the high school. He did well in summer workouts, so he decided to give high school a shot.

During his freshman year, he ended up being the starting RB on the sophomore team. He had games of multiple TD runs and three games over over 150 yards each. In one, he'd have gone over 200 for sure, but the coaches didn't give him as many carries in the first half.

As a sophomore, he was pulled to the varsity team as an undersized RB. He was a tackling dummy for practice. The sophomore team still wanted him, so he went to soph practice after varsity practice each day. He was so beaten up that he walked with a limp for about 3 months. He practiced on both teams, but rarely played on either.

As a junior, he was in line to get a lot of playing time, although he was behind 2 seniors. One of those seniors led the state in rushing TDs through the regular season as a junior. The week before the first game, my son broke a finger. He tried to play the first game, but couldn't grip the ball with his right hand so he was nervous about running to the left.
We had his finger checked the following week and learned that he needed surgery. that surgery required a 6 week recovery. By then, he was out of the mix and had a hard time getting on the field for the final 2 games when he was available.

His OC and RB coach love him, so he expected a good senior year despite setbacks in the previous 2 years.
Both of those guys quit after last season.

So now he's working with a new OC and new RB coach. He dilligently goes to practice each day, but he has no expectations for any playing time after what he's been through the last 2 years. He's frustrated, but he focuses on working hard and doing what he can do.

I've told him that's how life goes sometimes and to keep working until the timer is up. Even if his senior year isn't what he hoped it would be back when he was a freshman, he has learned to work hard through difficulties and that's a transferrable skill.
Regardless, it's hard to watch as a parent.