Way to go Patriots! HT Patriots Football last Friday night earned a home play-off game by beating the Arlington Cardinals. We have had a tough regular season in more ways then one. We have played 3 of the top 5 teams in 9B and played 1 top 6 team in 9A and 3 other teams we played have made the play-offs. We lost a few players to injuries and a number of other players playing with some sort of physical pain throughout the year. Like every year it has been a challenge, but our Patriots are finding their way through it all together.
Last Friday's game came with a number of challenges and things that could have brought our Patriots down, but they kept battling and overcame the Cardinals fight at the end. The first quarter ended 0-0 and two plays into the 2nd quarter our defense made a huge play. #40 Morgon Bottum knocked the ball out of the QB's hands as he was inching closer to the goal line and #10 Tristan Nowell jumped on the ball in the end zone for a touchback; big time plays. We ended that drive with a 10 yard touchdown run by #23 Blaze Binger and caped it off with a 2pt run by #5 Derek Johnson. #3 Devin Enander was able to get to the ball on the next kick-off and we ended that drive with a 1 yard score by #32 Aiden Frankenstein. #32 Aiden Frankenstein finished another drive with a 22 yard run for a touchdown and #23 Blaze Binger running in the 2pt conversion. #8 Payton Chasing Hawk had an interception with a 30 plus yard return. We ended the half 22 to 6 Patriots. Arlington played us tough and caused some fumbles, so we weren't able to get a bunch going in the second half. We were able to throw a 58 yard screen pass to #23 Blaze Binger for a touchdown and #8 Payton Chasing Hawk ran in the 2pt conversion. This was the game winner. The score ended 30 to 22.
I am so excited for our players and watching them to continue to battle to the very end is looking good for our future. We face Colman-Egan this Thursday night in Tulare at 7PM. We thank you for all of the continued support. See you Thursday night.