Varsity football went into the homecoming game with hopes of an upset against Seminole on Friday night, but Seminole, the #3 ranked team in 7A, did not let that happen, beating Hagerty 42-7.
“The biggest challenge would be our mindset. Just getting over the idea that they’re so big and great, and really just looking at them as another football team,” senior Porter Williams said.
After taking advantage of a fumble recovery, Seminole started off strong in the first quarter by scoring two touchdowns and getting out to a 14-0 lead. Seminole’s dominance continued into the second quarter where they scored three more touchdowns for a total of 35 points in the first half.
While quarterback Caden Mitchell managed to connect with wide receiver James Ketron for a touchdown in the second quarter, that would not be enough. Along with a struggle on the offensive side of the ball, the defense also wasn’t able to stop Seminole.
“On the defensive side of the ball, we were trying to make positional adjustments, Coach [Mikles] was trying to put us in better positions to make bigger plays. We ended up stopping them a few times, so it ended up working,” senior Kale Encarnacion said.
The positional adjustments worked well as Hagerty kept them off of the scoreboard in the third quarter, and they minimized the damage to only one touchdown in the fourth quarter. While the defense was more effective in the second half, the offense was not able to get going throughout the game with costly turnovers.
“We were trying to keep the intensity up, doing what we do best, which is playing football, and keeping the energy,” Williams said.
With this loss to Seminole, Hagerty fell to 1-2 in district play. On Friday, Hagerty travels to Lyman where they will play their last game of the regular season and aim for their fourth consecutive road win.
“For the next game, we’re gonna prepare the same way that we always do. I think the seniors are really going to step up this week because this is the seniors’ last regular season game for the rest of their lives,” Encarnacion said.
