At the start of this football season, the Spartans worked hard to get ready and take the field in order to prove themselves as a force to be reckoned with. As the community rallied behind them, the players focused on not just on winning games, but also representing the Mayo Spartan spirit with pride, passion, and perseverance.
The path to victory wasn’t easy, as the team would face a series of intense challenges, “going through a gauntlet,” facing tough opponents one after another. Each one tested the Spartans’ endurance, skills, and resilience. “Every week is going to be a challenge: teams that are bigger and have more numbers and want to beat us because we’re not normally in 6A,” Coach Holcomb said. “Class 6A consists of 249 schools with a minimum enrollment 2,275” (Sports illustrated).
“I’m excited, they’ve worked extremely hard, and we’re looking to see growth every week,” Head Coach Holcomb said. Even before the students returned for the new school year, the team had their first win, but sadly week two and three turned into upsets for Mayo, as they lost against Eagan and Farmington. It was clear that Coach Holcomb was disappointed, because he “didn’t think it represented our team and all the work that the guys put in, and the talent we have, so hopefully we can improve on that.” They put in a lot of hard work and long hours to improve even more.
In fact, heading into the fourth week, the team had developed quite a bit, particularly improving defensively. Even still, there would be some upcoming challenges along the way that the team had to face. For example, the Spartans would go up against some of the top teams in the state.
Beyond that, they had to contend with “injuries and [to play with a reduced] number of players through the end of the year” Coach Holcomb explained. He needed many younger players to step up; that would be crucial for the season’s success. Max Erickson, a sophomore running back was one of those who made his first start because of those injuries, and he helped the team a great deal. Gabe Davis, another sophomore, played a key role as a wide receiver. Caleb Loomis did the job on the offensive line.
Things were looking better, but then on senior night, the last home game for the Mayo Spartans, the team struggled quite a bit. They did not play to their full potential: the score was 7 to 46. Like at the beginning of the season, it was time for the players to regroup, intensify their efforts, and rally.
After the end of the regular season, the team faced more of these challenging obstacles in the playoffs. Mainly, this involved going up against top-ranked teams and having to play away games with hostile environments and rowdy fans of their opponents. With that we will see the characteristics of how these Mayo football players will respond to challenges that come ahead.
So, in the first game of the playoffs, the football team came back after that tragic loss and defeated Centennial by a score of 24 to 28. It wasn’t just a first-round game; Centennial were the reigning state champions.
Up next is Minnetonka this Friday night away at their home field. It’s going be a great night. It is going to be packed with over 6,000 people to see Mayo vs Minnetonka go at it. We will see how the team will perform not just by their actions, but by their attitudes and their Mayo spirit.
Photos courtesy of Post Bulletin
