With October 25th’s game being the last of the regular football season, the varsity Raiders (6-3) had no trouble vanquishing West Chicago (1-8). Having had a fairly successful season under their belt, the Raiders were ready to take on St. Rita’s of Chicago (6-3). 

Similarly, both teams started off the season with a win and managed to maintain the same record of 6-3. Going into this battle, the Raiders were definitely the underdogs. On the basis of facts, the Mustangs were playing teams with much higher standings versus the Raider points scored for  having been 205 and the points scored against being 206 for the overall season. On the other hand, the Mustangs scored 266 points all season and were only scored against 151 points. However, with the point differential having been only a 60 point difference between the Raiders and the Mustangs, there was still a chance at victory.

When asked what the Raiders had that the Mustangs did not, junior Faiz Hameed, Captain and starting right guard believed that, “the Raiders possessed trust in one another. They were one big family and really lived by the mantra that ‘there is no ‘I’ in team’”.

To Hameed, St. Rita’s seemed out more for personal gain and glory than a team bond. To get the job done Hameed stressed that,“we must communicate with each other, no matter how difficult it becomes. Communication is key.”

Although the Raiders posed a valiant effort, they fell to St. Rita’s 49-14. Despite this, Coach Crissey will be looking forward to the future. For the St. Rita’s face off, Crissey pulled up twelve sophomores to varsity. He was most excited for sophomore’s Zack Blazek and Brendan Cullum’s future with the Raiders Varsity Football team. Crissey will also be looking forward to seeing returning varsity members, Cade Hardke (Jr.), Faiz Hameed (Jr.), Brian Winkler (Jr.), Trevor Burnett (So.), Yazan Blan (Jr.), Johnny Golden (Jr.), and Jeremy Gelino (Jr.),  to take a new leadership role over the incoming varsity members.

Playing St. Rita’s was a very unique learning experience for the program, and Crissey hopes to have that opportunity again.