Eastbrook’s senior class could not have been more disappointed Friday night after facing the number-one team in the state of Indiana AA football. They lost 42-14 and were demoralized. For the first time since the state finals last year, they had given up more than 30 points. Lewis-Cass came to play and produced their “A” game. They matched the Panther’s intensity; actually they bettered it, and played an all around better game than Eastbrook. For the first time this season, the Panther’s faced a better team than them.

This loss probably came hardest to the tight group of seniors that were on this squad. They played together, they ate together, they lived together, and they were brothers. These brothers gave more to the Eastbrook program than they could have known. They gave their bodies as a physical contribution to the program. Even more, however, is that they gave their minds, their hearts, and their souls which will forever be logged on the Eastbrook Football field.

The loss was also taken hard by the rest of the team. The juniors and sophomores, who were a major part of this season’s success, were found lying on the field of battle, defeated and in tears. The loss was probably so hard to handle because everyone on that field expected to win, Lewis-Cass players and Eastbrook players alike. The Panthers, however, had expected and wanted their second birth into the IHSAA State Finals. This season they fell just short of that mark. But let us not take away from what the team has accomplished this year. Going 11-2 is no easy task, nor is winning the schools 5^th consecutive Sectional Title. As if that wasn’t enough the team also managed to win the Grant-4 title, and CIC title.

On behalf of the Eastbrook Panthers, I would like to say thank-you to all the fans that traveled the countless miles, just to cheer on their local high school football team. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for creating memories that will out last a lifetime and live on with the team and I, forever.