If you told a NK student last year that their football team would be Division Champions right now, you would have had to hold your hat on and sustain the roar of laughter aimed at the direction of your face.

Our team has worked night and day to get where they are right now. As one of the last fall sports still practicing, the boys practice four days a week for two hours at a time. They also bond as a team through pasta dinners and countless team events.

As students stood shivering in the cold on Friday November 8, an explosion of excitement for the team’s victory erupted throughout the stands. They had blown Shea off the field with a 25-14 victory, and triumphant smiles fell across the fans’ faces, believing that they would get to see their team in playoffs for the first time in years. This final win at home cemented the title of Division Champions for the first time since 1987.

The dilemma that lay in front of RIIL was that the season resulted in a five way tie for first place. This led to a strange tie breaking method that had to be used. NKs chances of becoming state champions was swiped from their grasp when it came down to points scored against, where St. Rays Academy had fewer.

Needless to say there was anger, sadness, and annoyance coming from the players. Senior Matt Deignan said, “The tiebreakers were very screwed up. We are co division champs, yet we didn’t make playoffs. That’s not right.”

How would you feel if you worked your whole season and just because you had a few more points scored against you, you didn’t have a chance to go all the way? The seniors on the team have to live with the fact that they were so close to reinventing NK but couldn’t finish the job. In the end, the two teams in the high school super bowl had been victims to an NK victory during the season.

Although the team was not able to become State Champions, they have made the school proud and there can be nothing but good to come.