The football team finished their season at the bi-district playoff Friday, Nov. 15 after a 55-28 loss to the Decatur Eagles in Childress.

The team finished the season with a 6-5 overall record after losing to Pampa, Hereford, Dumas and Andrews in the last four games of the regular season. The team met the 10-0 Decatur Eagles after Decatur’s 49-12 win over Gainesville. 

“The record doesn’t really describe our season,” junior and wide receiver Jack McKay said. “It was a lot of close games and a lot of guys that fought. The record doesn’t describe how hard these guys played and how much I love everybody on this team.”

The team withstood multiple injuries towards the latter half of the regular season.

“Whenever you lose a starting running back and a starting quarterback, it obviously takes a toll,” McKay said. “But all those guys, like Aidan [Hildinger, running back] who was out for the season with a torn ACL, he was still a part of the team every day. All those guys were still a part of the team contributing. We just didn’t have them on the field. That was the only difference. It was rough, but we couldn’t really do anything about it.”

McKay said despite the injuries, the team fought in a lot of the games and lost by little.

“With all the guys out and everything we went through, I think it taught us a lot,” McKay said. “Next year, when we return as seniors, hopefully we all stay healthy. We know we’re still going to have that fight, and that’s something to look forward to.”

Junior Brody Cook played as a running back this season.

“It should’ve been a lot better,” Cook said. “I feel like that should’ve been one of the best teams that we’ve had. Injuries didn’t help, but it’s hard to sit back and wonder what if. At the same time you have to move on and get ready to go into the offseason and get ready for next season.”

Cook said attitude of the team in practice never changed.

“We were always just ready to go,” Cook said. “We were always just ready to be out there and excited. We were never gloomy or sad. That was pretty cool to see.”

Senior and nose guard Isaac Reyes said the season started pretty well.

“It just didn’t go how we wanted to at the end,” Reyes said. “I feel like we kept it together over time as a team. We didn’t just give up. It was just one of those things where we weren’t the best team out there.”

Reyes said the team can be proud of the way they fought in every game. 

“We didn’t come out on top a lot, but I felt like it wasn’t a blowout,” Reyes said. “It was more like we fought every play. I think as a team we did very well at that.”

The team finished the season with three out of the five losses in a seven point or less deficit. 

“No one likes to lose,” Reyes said. “It was more of a pride thing than anything to walk into a game and be like ‘We’re going to fight.’ We might not win, but we were never going to give in. I think there’s a little bit of fire for everyone that goes onto that field. They just want to fight. I don’t think we have a lot of people that would just say ‘Oh, we’re down and roll over.’ I don’t think that’s who we are.”