On Oct. 26, the varsity football team lost to the Crown Point Bulldogs in the second game of Sectionals.

“Even though we did advance to the second round [of Sectionals], which is better than we did last year, we set our expectations for State, so the outcome was disappointing,” Michael Goin (11) said.

The Indians were up in the first half, winning 14-7 against the Bulldogs, but during the second half, the team lost their advantage and lost 14-21.

“I think I did all right with me scoring the only two touchdowns of the game, but obviously we didn’t get done what we wanted to get done by losing or anything. I thought we did well, but there is some stuff we could have fixed. It’s just an ‘oh well’ at this point. I wish we could have changed it, but it is what it is,” Riley Arvanitis (12) said.

With a disappointing loss came a lighter outlook.

“I think [the season] went really well. We won our first Sectional game since Coach St. Germain has been here. We beat Portage. I think we did well, just like last year,” Arvanitis said.

Regardless of the loss, players are keeping their heads up.

“It was a good season. Even if we fell short of our expectations, it was still a good season,” Alec Olund (11) said.

With the close of the season, returning players are gearing up for next year’s postseason.

“I’m going to speed training, to another gym, and I plan on looking over our playbook so I can be prepared for next season,” Goin said.

To some players, the biggest outcome from the season was the bond formed between teammates.

“We just need to keep developing the bond we made this year. We can fix our faults, but we really need to stay focused on beating out rivals for next season,” Goin said.

Though it was the last game for many of the players, there is still hope for next season.

“We proved a lot of people wrong this year,” Arvanitis said.

The team will continue training for next year, building up their team and further strengthening its weak points.