The Lancaster High School Golden Gales football team ended it’s long challenging season with the 2-7 record. As former OCC Co-Champions last year, the Gales dug in, practiced hard, and worked to try to recover its season. Some coaches and players recounted the overall

experience on the field this past season.

“We have had a very inconsistent start to the season,” said football coach Mark Pezo.

“This season did not go as planned. I thought we were a few plays away from completely changing our record around,” said coach Karl Justus.

“We were very competitive for the most part; we just couldn’t close out games and failed to capitalize at the right moments.”

The senior athletes on the team had mixed emotions about their last season of high school football, especially after winning the championship last year. Devon Pearson, one of the team’s captains had high hopes for recouping some wins in the season.

“I’m sad that it came to an end,” said Pearson, “But we didn’t play like I knew we could.”

Another senior, Casey Finck, summarized his feelings about the disappointing season.

“It didn’t go the way we p

lanned or how I’d like to end my senior year with football,” said Finck.
“But overall we stuck together through the good and bad and played our hardest the whole season,” he said.

LHS sophomore, Riley Poston, expressed pride in his team for their consiste

nt solidarity.

“The one thing we’ve done for sure is stick together through any adversity that has come our way,” he said.

“We were still developing as a team and we had a lot of younger players, we were getting better every week,” said sophomore Anthony Smith.

Many of the younger athletes expressed their hope fo

r a better season next year.

“The season overall was more of a learning experience and getting ready for next year,” said LHS sophomore, Sam Finck.

“We didn’t really meet the expectations we all wanted to, but I’ve learned a lot going forward into next year’s season,” he said.

Head football coach Rob Carpenter acknowledged the older players despite their disappointing season.
“Our seniors displayed a lot of excitement and great football ability,” said Carpenter.“But our injuries, penalties, and turnovers hampered us all season,” h

e said.

When the team isn’t winning, the fans may get discouraged. However, Coach Carpenter praised the Lancaster fans for their loyalty and support.

“The coaches wish to thank all the players who sacrificed their time and energy to representing the Golden Gales on the Friday night game fields and every day in practice.”

Gallery • 12 Photos

Jennifer Grays