The Arapahoe-Heritage rivalry game had a huge change this year; it wasn’t a Friday night game, but rather a Saturday morning game. The Heritage football team lost 28-42, but this won’t stop them from having a great season.
The morning game was a large adjustment for everyone, including the players, students, and parents. Mia H. ‘27, says “It was really hot being a morning game and way less people showed up; a lot of people had practices or work to go to instead. There was not as much spirit as there has been before.”
Not only were the students dealing with the adjustment, so was the team and coaches. Mr. Tyler Johnson says, “We strive to teach our team how to deal with adversity. How to respond when things do not go as expected or the way we hope. That is the message we delivered from the day we found out the game would be on Saturday morning instead of Friday night, it was out of our control. However, the atmosphere was VERY different. There was a significant decrease in attendance, especially from the student body. It did not feel the same, like one of the best rivalries in the state. It seemed quiet. Heck, even the band didn’t show up!” The band was not present at the Saturday game due to their practice.
Despite the loss, the people who were able to attend brought the spirit and Heritage football put in a good fight. Johnson says, “We still got the chance to go and compete against a good Arapahoe team. We didn’t perform the way we know we are capable of, but it was still a rivalry game, and we are blessed to get the opportunity to compete. We will NOT use playing on a Saturday as an excuse for the loss.”