On Oct. 15th, Park football played its senior night game against St. Francis, losing 20-29. Seniors were recognized before the game with a ceremony, where the seniors walked onto the field with their families. This game marked the end of the regular season, and the team will begin sections next week.
According to assistant coach Alexander Polk, this year’s seniors have been crucial to the culture of the team and have shown real maturity and integrity this season through being welcoming to newer players.
“The seniors this year have shown that they are willing to accept people that have not necessarily played the game before, that they’re going to coach them up and help them mature as people and mature as players,” Polk said. “They’ve been people that have helped the sport grow by being good people on and off the field.”
Junior Jacob Berry said he learned a lot from his senior teammates, and they have inspired everyone on the team to stay positive and keep a passion for the sport alive.
“(The seniors) remind us to always keep your head up, and score doesn’t matter at the end of the day, it’s just going out there with your buddies and playing,” Berry said.
Senior Mason Helfmann said the offense was a strength throughout the game, but for defense, there are some things they can clean up before sections.
“Our offense drove pretty well, and we played a decent game there. Defensively, we can be a little bit better on tackles and just a little bit better on every little small detail,” Helfmann said.
Berry said that his favorite moment from the game was witnessing a teammate make a great catch, scoring a touchdown for the team.
“(My) favorite moment from the game was watching one of my friends catch a touchdown pass,” Berry said.
Helfmann said the game was memorable and significant to him because of the people football surrounded him by, especially as his senior season was coming to a close.
“I will remember playing with my teammates and walking out with my parents,” Helfmann said.
Polk said since St. Francis is a strong team, being able to compete closely with them is encouraging and sets a good tone as they head into sections.
“We’ve shown that we can keep up with anybody. St. Francis is a good school, good team and they’ve put up a lot of points in the past,” Polk said. “The fact that we were able to keep up bodes well for us, especially as we go towards schools like Washburn or Southwest.”
Berry said the team needs to make some improvements, such as analyzing game performance and giving it their all before heading into the final games of the season.
“I need to get in the film room, get with my team, go out at practice and go out 100% so we’re ready for the next game,” Berry said.
Park football’s next game is against Minneapolis Southwest at 7 p.m., Oct. 25 at home. This will be their first game of the section’s tournament.
