Warriors end their season on a first-round exit to Glenwood

By Melvin Saunders

Sports Reporter

and Carson Gross Sports Reporter

The below story is by Melvin Saunders

On Nov. 2, the Warriors lost a heartbreaker against the Glenwood Titans in the playoffs by a score of 49- 34, ending their season with a 6-4 record. 

Crete-Monee beat Thornton 64-0 this year at home. They lost to Glenwood 49-34 in the first round of the playoffs. Photo by Genevieve Van Drunen.

“We lost because of the referees,” Josh Hill said. 

The Warriors lost their chance to become the Southland Conference Champions by losing their rivalry game against Kankakee 56-14, losing their chance to get a week off to mentally prepare before the playoffs. So, in the first round of the playoffs, they had to play against the 7-2 Glenwood Titans. 

“We needed to play as a team, and that’s just something we weren’t doing, but this coming week, we are going to work on playing as a team,” Dorian Patterson said before their loss in the playoffs. 

Before going into that playoff game against the Glenwood Titans, the Warriors practiced a different defense for that Glenwood offense so they could stop their wide receivers, mostly the 6’ 5” one. They needed to stop him to stop their offense and get the defense off the field.

“We have to go into this game more prepared as a team because this might be our last game of the season,” Dominic Jackson said. 

They could have won that game, as the Titans gave them multiple chances to come back into it. However, the offense and defense just couldn’t convert when they needed to, and they also did not have the refs on their side going into foreign territory.

“We should have won that game. We had so many opportunities to come back and win,” Trevon Williams said. 

During the game, Crete-Monee lost star quarterback Derrin Couch to an injury. Couch broke the Crete-Monee Warriors passing touchdown record, previously owned by Marcus Terrell in 2013.

“If we would have never lost our QB, we probably would have never lost our morale and momentum,” Jayden Hudson said. 

If they had won the game against the Glenwood Titans, they would have advanced to the next round to play the Oak Forest Bengals in the second round of the IHSA playoffs.

“We needed to win that game for the seniors since it was the last of the season,” Jace Harris said. 

The below story is by Carson Gross

Players reflect on the season

By Carson Gross

Sports Reporter

Varsity football has successfully made it to its 19th straight IHSA playoff appearance. Unfortunately, they lost their playoff game, knocking them out of the playoffs. 

“Showing up to practice, putting that work in every time, every day. Being locked into what we want to achieve,”  X’Zallen Lloyd said regarding how the team should prepare for games. 

But how can they prepare from a fan’s standpoint? Watching from the outside can cause a whole different point of view than actually playing. 

“I know some of the players on the team are really taking it really seriously, so they should take it seriously and study the teams they play,” Donyae Johnson said. 

Losing a game can cause a huge team momentum shift, so you must bounce back strong. Will this loss change anything for the team? Varsity player Dominic Jackson doesn’t believe so.

 “No, one loss doesn’t define this team.” 

Each player has a very important role on their team. If they don’t play that role, it can majorly impact the team one way or another. 

“Motivate them when they are done; help them when they are done; don’t let them get unfocused. Be better at my position, and block better,” Lloyd said on how he can play his part. 

“Lock in mentally and stay on my Ps and Qs,” Jackson added. 

Being a team player and helping your teammates is also a huge part of playing your role. Many people think being skilled is the only thing that goes into being a great player, but being able to help your teammates when down is also a big factor. This will not be the end for this team, as next year, they hope to bounce back even stronger.