ESPN

It started as an innocuous project, really. In 2006, not far removed from his own exploits as a high school athlete in Houston, photographer Michael Starghill had an idea to capture teenage jocks in their rawest, most unfiltered moments. So he asked Jason Lane, who was then the coach at Calvin Coolidge Senior High in the northwest section of Washington, D.C., if he could spend a season embedded with the football team. Lane said yes, and one season turned into five. Freshmen turned into FBS players, and Starghill's passion project turned into a bit of an obsession. Seven years and thousands of shutter clicks later, he's still chronicling the daily life of high school athletes. Here's a gallery of his best images, starting with this one of Louis Young, who's seen celebrating Our Lady of Good Counsel High's 2009 Washington Catholic Athletic Conference championship win over DeMatha Catholic High in Annapolis, Md.