Changing the Narrative: The End of the Football Season

The Peglegs, Stuyvesant’s varsity football team, saw their season come to an abrupt end on Saturday when they lost to Petrides High School’s Panthers, 52-40. Though the point margin was significant, the Peglegs’ performance kept the Panthers on their feet.

The Peglegs started strong, taking advantage of a Panthers fumble and scoring a quick touchdown for the first seven points of the game. The Panthers, however, then went on to score 30 unanswered points, and the game soon seemed out-of-reach for the Peglegs. That was the moment when the team displayed the grit and determination that ultimately helped them finish the season with an 8-1 record. Several quick touchdowns and key stops on defense had the Peglegs trailing by just two points at halftime 30-28 with momentum on their side.

The team carried this momentum into the second half and retook the lead by scoring a touchdown early in the third quarter; the Peglegs managed to climb out of the large hole they had dug themselves into and put themselves in position to advance to the semifinals. But in the end, the Panthers ended up celebrating a hard-fought victory on the field after they capitalized on some mistakes made by the Peglegs.

The tears that were shed by the seniors captured just how heartbreaking this loss was. The Peglegs, without junior starting quarterback Lucas Dingman and running backs Franklin Liou and Kevin Chan, were extremely close to defeating the only team that had beat them in the regular season. Despite finding themselves down 23 at one point, the team was miraculously able to retake the lead. A game in which they scored six touchdowns certainly should have ended in a win, but in the end, their defensive errors cost them.

Despite this heartbreak, the Peglegs have much to be proud of. They won three more games this season than they had in the past three seasons combined. Their offense averaged 30.7 points per game while their defense allowed just 11.6 points per game. Despite losing several star players to injury, they managed to not only make the playoffs, but also advance past the first round. Overall, the Peglegs have much to look forward to next season. Though they will be losing their seniors, the backbone of the team, their strong core of juniors, remains intact.

After years of residing in the basement of the standings, the Peglegs certainly switched the narrative with a strong 2018 season. Perhaps they will be able to build on it and go farther into the playoffs to finally bring a championship to Stuyvesant.