The varsity football team suffered a tough 7-32 loss to The King’s Academy after MVHS’s day off on Oct. 10.
During MVHS’s first drive of the game, the Knights picked off a pass thrown by sophomore quarterback Ishan Devarapalli, setting them up to score the first touchdown of the game. A botched snap led to a failed two point try for the Knights, leaving the Spartans down six early in the game.
During the next Spartan drive, the offense was still unable to connect and were forced to punt. However, the Knights’ returner muffed the punt, and senior Yannick Slimani recovered the ball to put the Spartans in scoring position within the Knights’ 30 yard line.
MVHS capitalized on the Knights’ error, with Devarapalli connecting with senior wide receiver Luke Orrock to give the Spartans a 7-6 lead.
Junior Brigham Robinson then intercepted a pass to set up the offense in good field position. However, they were not able to take advantage and failed on a fourth down conversion.
From that drive, The King’s Academy’s offense began to click, and they scored a touchdown right after the MVHS turnover.
The Spartans were unable to muster any offense for the remainder of the first half, while the Knights scored two more touchdowns to end the half 26-7 in favor of The King’s Academy.
“We had good energy throughout the first half, but everybody could feel it slowly get down,” Devarapalli said.
MVHS’s offensive woes continued into the second half with multiple punts, turnovers, and failed fourth down conversions. The Knights notched one more touchdown, handing the Spartans their sixth loss on the season, 7-32. The Spartans are now 0-6 in on the season.
This loss damaged the team’s hopes of qualifying for CCS playoffs.
“We have no choice but to improve at this point,” Devarapalli said. “We have to win the next three games if we want a shot at continuing the season beyond 10 games.”
Despite the Spartans’ performance, Devarapalli and senior Viliami Sekona highlighted senior running back Diego Ortega-Gerow’s ability to move the ball.
Looking forward to the next games on their schedule, Sekona is keeping his hopes high for what the team can accomplish.
“It didn’t end how we wanted it to, but I still think this team has a whole lot of fight left in them for the rest of the season,” Sekona said.
