Park ended their 2024 season by losing 15-49 to Armstrong High School Oct. 26. This game against Armstrong was the last game of many Park football athlete’s careers—there were thanks given out and hugs received by the coaches and players at the end of the game.
According to head coach Jason Foster, the team did well during the game because they didn’t give up and persevered against competition.
“They stayed in the game. They fought. That’s a good, undefeated ball club over there, and they stuck together and kept fighting through no matter what adversity they faced,” Foster said.
Senior Will Carpenter said the team fought hard against Armstrong. He said the team made sure not to give up and stayed together as a team.
“We stuck, and we didn’t let up. We kept pushing through the whole thing, even though we were down by a lot,” Carpenter said.
Senior Max Olson said his favorite part of the game was being able to give thanks to Park’s coaches and say goodbye to his teammates after a hard-fought season. He said holding senior Sunday the following day was another high point of the season.
“(The highlight of the game was) by far getting to say goodbye to each(other) and getting to thank the coaches after a long season and getting to have a senior Sunday the next day,” Olson said.
Foster said the team’s performance this year was good. He said there were some upsets, but the team didn’t let it bring their spirits down.
“They did well. There were some games that we could have won, but they never hung their heads down,” Foster said. “They kept fighting all the way through, even when they were down by a lot.”
Carpenter said Armstrong was the hardest team they competed against this year because they’re one of the best teams in the state.
“(Armstrong is) definitely the best team we’ve faced. They’re top three in the state, so they had a ton of good players, and for sure, the hardest team we’ve faced,” Carpenter said.
Olson said the mindset he had going into the game was to try his best to come out on top because it was a section game. He said if Park didn’t win the game against Armstrong, their season would end, so they put more stress on working for a win.
“My mindset was win or go home. It’s sections, so everything counts a little bit more,” Olson said. “Our season was on the line, so every play matters.”
Foster said one challenge he faced while preparing for this game was that Armstrong has excellent talent, so lowering Park’s missteps and staying in the game was a challenge for them.
“The fact that they were an undefeated team and had some good players, (we) knew that was a challenge,” Foster said. “We told them to try to limit the mistakes and then just keep fighting.”
According to Carpenter, he hopes the team keeps improving next year. He said he hopes the team keeps putting in effort in order to win games.
“I hope the team keeps getting better, hope to see the players I played with do well and win and continue to work as hard as they did this year,” Carpenter said.
According to Olson, he is looking forward to seeing growth in the underclassmen. He said he’s also excited to see a winning team next year and the team to continue to play together.
“I hope to see the team next year pick up where we left off, keep winning games, keep improving and (I hope) everyone continues to be on the same page,” Olson said.
Foster said he’ll have a hard time seeing the seniors leave this year because of the love the coaching staff has for them.
“It’s gonna be very rough to see them leave and not have them on our team next year, especially because they were such a huge part of the team this year,” Foster said.
Park ended their 2024 season with a record of four wins and six losses.
