After an unbelievable score of 49-0 for Rider/Old High, the Varsity football team was set and determined to take on the playoffs. Starting the season in the 4A Division 2 bracket, the team was 8-2, and they dominated the competition game after game.

“People talk about our losses of JT and Chase, but in life it’s not always going to be easy. You can’t just throw your hands up and quit, you have to move forward and keep going,” Head coach Jim Garfield said.

The boys have done just that, beginning the playoff season with a 44-26 win over the Fort Worth Dunbar Wildcats. Countless practices and multiple Friday and Saturday games later, the Raiders had shown just how far they wanted to go.

“I knew we had high expectations for the playoffs. We all had it in our heads that we would make history, and that’s what we set out to do,” junior safety Landon Ross said.

When the team worked their way to the fourth round, it was a home game that was attended by most of the Rider student body, hoping for a victory sealing the team’s mark in Raider history.

“It was exciting, like nothing else in the world mattered but that game,” sophomore safety Kristian Becker said.

Sure enough, Rider crushed Frenship with a 33-7 blow-away win. The fans were ecstatic. Rider, for the first time in history, was going to the State Semifinals. Unfortunately, that was as far as the team got. They lost in double overtime to Lancaster 26-19, with the entire Rider side of the stadium full of supporters who stayed even through pouring rain to cheer on their team and sing the Alma Mater along with the band.

“As a team we grew closer and got better everyday. We know we are the best even though it didn’t turn out that way. It’s a good feeling knowing we made Rider history, but I think I speak for everyone on the team when I say we should have made state history,” senior wide receiver John Hatch said.

Everyone loves a win, but only a true Raider can stand by their team after a loss, and that’s just what our student body did. It really ended the season with a bang, a close game that kept the fans on their feet. And that’s exactly how the entire season was, full of excitement.

“The team grew close throughout the playoffs, and we really proved that ‘One Family One Team’ is more than just a saying,” Ross said. “We are a family, it is a bond that we will have for life, a bond that grew stronger with these extra games that we earned together. Being a part of Raider history was an accomplishment that was not given to us but earned. It is a feeling that we will never forget.”