On Monday, October 22, Fossil Ridge High School’s Unified Flag Football team took the field against Loveland High School for their last game of the regular season. They took the win, 34-26, and senior Dee White expressed the team’s feelings when she said that she was sad to be playing her last football game in a Sabercat uniform. She added, though, that she walked onto the field wishing it would go “just the way it did.”

The score reflects the hard fight that both teams put in. Loveland took an immediate lead when the game began, scoring a touchdown for six points within two minutes of the first half. However, Fossil refused to be outdone, and sophomore Jacob Martin ran the ball to put Fossil in scoring position. Senior Robert Stone received the handoff to bring the score to a 6-6 tie. Then, Jaden “JP” Parker caught an interception and ran the length of the field to break the tie in Fossil’s favor; thanks to a two-point conversion, Fossil briefly led 14-6.

The exciting first half continued, as Loveland once again scored, converting for two extra points to once again tie the game at 14-14. Junior David Knuckey then had two plays to score another touchdown for Fossil, and though the team did not receive two extra points, they upped their lead to 20-14. As the scoreboard clicked down to show one minute in the half, the Indians once again ran into the end zone, but just before the half ended sophomore Alex Muggli snuck between the defenders to score. Fossil went into the break with a 26-20 lead.

Unified Flag Football is played with two twenty-minute halves, and with five players per team. There are no field goals, and touchdowns are worth six points with the possibility of a two-point conversion if the team can run the ball ten yards in a single play after the touchdown. Rarely, there are also two-point safeties.

Fossil added to their score with one as the second half began, increasing their lead to 28-20, and freshman Jackson Maybon moved the ball for a key first down to put the Sabercats in scoring position. White threw a pass to senior Sebastien Bastille, and the duo’s teamwork resulted in one more Sabercat touchdown. The Indians refused to let up, though, and with one minute remaining in the game, they ran into the end zone to add six to their score. The scoreboard read 34-26 as the clock hit zero.

Knuckey dominated on offense and played excellent defense throughout the night, grabbing several flags at key moments to defend Fossil’s territory. When asked about whether he’ll play Unified Basketball and Soccer, he explained, “why yes I will!”  While he is sad that the season is over, Knuckey added that the team “has the state championship, which is coming up on November 3 at CSU!” Come support your Sabercats then.