All hope was riding on one last play. It was make-or-break time on a game that the Bison had never really been expected to win in the first place. The bleachers shook as the crowd roared with excitement as the Bison lined up for the play, one that could get them back the lead they had lost only seconds before, allowing them to advance to another round of playoffs. The pass was up, and it was close, but the Bison fell short against the Roger Eagles (33-36).

To start off the game, the Bison kicked off to the Roger Eagles, who are ranked in the top ten teams in the state. The Bison were unsuccessful at scoring in the first and second quarters of the game letting the Eagles score two touchdowns (0-14).

“I felt like defense was working our butts off and that we needed to pick up the pace in order to catch up to them,” sophomore Reese Boyd said. “I think we could have probably done better if we rotate our linemen more and be more confident in ourselves since we have come this far.”

In the second half, the game got more intense when senior James Philips ran a 39-yard with the help of junior Francisco Saldana making the first touchdown for the Bison but failed to pull through a two-point conversion. A pass from junior Brett Hoffman to freshman Kyle Harrison was made that also lead up to another touchdown (14-22).

“I thought the team came out and did everything we asked them to do,” Coach Pete Heintze said. “They played hard by playing their assignments, and they kept it close and gave us a chance to win at the end.”

Throughout the game, it was very competitive but the fans weren’t really pumped. The energy from the band, belles, cheer and even fans were there but in the last quarter the Bison crowd started to lose hope because the Bison was down by a few touchdowns. Everyone was mentally preparing themselves for this to be the last game.

“I wasn’t mentally prepared because there is no right way to ever prepare for that kind of loss,” senior Landon Folsom said. “I did want this game to have a different outcome than what did happen or at least be a close good game and it was.”

Both junior Eric Beshears and senior Jamaul Randle both landed touchdowns during the fourth quarter but Randle failed at making a two-point conversion. The Bison were in the lead by 33-29 and then surprised by the Roger Eagles scoring a touchdown that made the Bison fell short (33-36).

“I felt like we were going to have a second chance for going further into the playoffs but I am a little disappointed,” junior Eric Beshears said. “I’m ready for next year but there are some things we can do better like work together as a team and for personal goals that I want to achieve are increasing my speed, my strength and get in better shape for next year.”