Homecoming rivalry: Loss of a game, no loss of hope

Although The Bears did not win against Stevenson last night, the team still has hope for future games as they continue to compete in conference. 

“I think that we did well. I think that no one gave up for anything,” Jack Sanborn, junior middle linebacker, said. “I thought, as a team, we played well, we played hard, we actually did what we wanted to do, we did what we felt we could do, especially on defense, and it’s just one or two plays that changed the game and decided the outcome.”

Though they may not have scored a win they “played the best they could,” according to Jason Sayre, sophomore linebacker.

“The outcome didn’t really show how we played. I was happy with the outcome of the game. I feel, even if we lost the game, we all got better,” Sayre said. “We all worked very well together yesterday and if we play like that then I feel like we can make it to state.” 

After preparing in the same way [as other games], the outcome of the rivalry game has the players thinking of preparing differently for next week. 

“I think we treated this week like every other week, preparing-wise,” Sanborn said. “Just coming into the game we believed that it was the same as any other game, even through there was more significance. I think we are going to be more focused [next week] and it will just fuel us going down the road.”

The team plays away against Libertyville next week and plans on “bouncing back,” and being even better in their lines, according to Sanborn.

“I felt I communicated to defense by communicating the plays pretty well. I mean, as a defense, we were confident coming in that we’d be able to stop their run game and that’s what we did,” Sanborn said. “I believe that we could’ve gotten a little more pressure on the quarterback, especially me at times, but I mean with stopping the run, I think we played well on defense.”

With a current record of 5-2, the Bears are hoping for a successful season this year. 

Sayre said, “I feel that we need to keep our heads up and just think of Libertyville now and forget about the loss.”