To finish out their successful season, Edmond Memorial’s Varsity Football team competed in the playoffs for the first time in eight years. They may not have won the game, but making it to this stage shows that their hard work paid off.

The team has had an exciting year; beating Edmond North and winning other games energized the Dogpound. The Bulldogs even became City Champs, which was extra thrilling because the team hasn’t beat both their Edmond rivals in many years.

Senior Linebacker Jordan Cuthbertson believes the growth this year is a result of dedication and having faith in each other.

“We’ve relied on each other. Trusting the process, trusting our coaches, not caring about what outside people think about it and just believing in one another,” Cuthbertson said.

The team worked hard during practices, fighting their way to the top. While these practices were taxing and tiring, the team persevered to achieve victory.

“You can’t win games if you don’t have good talent,” Head Coach Logan Thomas said. “We had a really talented group that understood how to work well together.”

The team has had the same coaches for several years now and building those relationships and team dynamics contributed to the team’s successes.

“We were well-coached and we already had a basis to go off of from last year, so we had a better start and we’ve been with the coaches for a while now,” senior Carsten Mower said.

Going into the playoffs, both the football team and the rest of the school was proud of their accomplishments.

“We’re excited. First playoff game in eight years I think, it’s an amazing feeling. We definitely have worked hard and we believe that we’ve earned it,” Cuthbertson said.

Even through the snow, the team put up a fight with the game ending 27-32. The Enid Plainsmen took the official win, but the Bulldogs left feeling good about the season, ready to go even further next year.

“They broke a lot of ceilings this year, but I think they know that this is just the beginning,” Thomas said. “They got the ball rolling for us but we expect to go further in the years coming.”

Contact Kelsi Seltenreich at [email protected]