Despite a valiant effort by the Warrior football team, the season ended Friday night far from home with a loss to the Charlotte Fighting Tarpon.  This was the first playoff game since 2013.

Coach Palmer said the team still made its mark.  “We scored the most points on them this year. They had given up about 40 points all year and we scored 24 points on them,” he said.

Right away, the Warriors moved the ball right down the field. In the opening drive, they kicked a field goal to tie the game 3-3. By the end of the first quarter, though, the scoreboard read 17-3, Fighting Tarpon.

“Going into the second quarter seeing that we were still in the game really made us feel good and that let us know we were playing well, which really kept us motivated,” said Jha’Mhyll Banks.

The second quarter was tough for the Warriors since Ryan Allan’s pass was intercepted and they also gave up two touchdowns. However, Ryan did throw a little screen pass to Chad Brittain which ended up being a 29-yard touchdown pass, making the score at the end of the second quarter 31-10. The third quarter went in Warriors’ favor as Travis Wateska ran for a 5-yard touchdown and Brandon Welch intercepted the Fighting Tarpon which led to the end of the third quarter, with a score of 31-16. In the fourth quarter, Warriors gave up two rushing touchdowns.

Even though the Warriors did score a touchdown off of a 20-yard pass from Ryan to Nick Shytle, the Warriors couldn’t persevere, ending the game 45-24.

“It was our last game all together (possibly) and it was the last time some of my teammates will ever play again so it was very emotional,” said Travis.