A rainy, cold, fall football game took place on Friday, Oct. 15 when the Eagles took on the Fort Zumwalt North Panthers. On the field, the boys were playing an intense game in the rain and fighting to keep North’s defense out of the endzone but ended up losing to North 45-14.

North scored their first touchdown with 8:31 left in the first quarter by Jalen Lee on a 51-yard run. The Panthers attempted a two-point conversion that fell short, causing the score to be 6-0. 

Junior Ethan Weiler got a break down the field for the Eagles later in the first quarter but was caught by a North defenseman. Because of Weiler’s successful run, sophomore quarterback Noah Kuehner ran the ball into the endzone for the first Eagle touchdown of the game. With 7:25 left in the first quarter, the Eagles took the lead by completing the extra point successfully thanks to junior kicker Charlie Hebden 7-6 over the Panthers. 

The Eagles defense stayed strong against the fifth team overall in the GAC rankings until the clock read 9:13 left in the half when North scored their second touchdown on a 25-yard pass to Chris Reckel. The Panthers then went for a two-point conversion, which again fell short of the endzone. The scoreboard showed 12-7, with North in the lead.

After this touchdown, the Panthers kept rushing for another touchdown, which the Eagles did their best to defend. The Eagles got flagged for holding when they stopped a North touchdown, which was later overturned by the officials, but the touchdown was still stopped. Then, senior Jacob Sorge pounced on the ball later in the same drive to cause a turnover for North and pause their momentum.

When the Eagles’ defense took the field again, North was ready to score. With 3:42 left in the half, North scored their third touchdown of the night on a five-yard run by Reckel. Another two-point conversion failed for the Panthers and the score was 18-7. 

The Eagles’ offense took this touchdown as motivation to catch up to the Panthers, and they scored on a 72 yard run by senior David Richard with a successful extra point by Hebden. The Eagles closed the gap against North by making the score 18-14. 

Sadly for the Eagles, this was their last touchdown of the game while North went on to score four more touchdowns. 

Although the Eagles lost this past Friday, the game held a deeper meaning for those attending.
Friday’s game was Pink Night for the student section, where the students all dressed in pink gear to support breast cancer awareness. Student Council held a miracle minute at halftime and sold pink powder in addition to Key Club’s efforts that raised $887.47 for breast cancer research. The pink powder was thrown at halftime, the same way it had in the years before COVID-19 took out the student section. 

“We do something for Pink Night every year,” senior Key Club President Sruthi Ramesh said. “Last year it ended up with us not being able to sell them (pink ribbons), so we did it again this year, and all the money that we made selling the ribbons for a dollar each, we gave to Student Council’s total for breast cancer awareness.”

This game also held a deeper meaning for the class of 2022 because it was their last home game in their high school experience. Many dancers, cheerleaders, and football players were nostalgic after the game ended and shed some tears for their high school careers ending.