October 17, 2022 by John Vilca ’23 by Olivia Tuck ’24
After a strong start to the season, Toga had a tough 35-7 loss to Shaker at home on October 7th. It was a tough night for the offense as they only managed one touchdown and had 3 turnovers (all interceptions). The game plan against Shaker was to, as coach Terry Jones puts it, “Spread the ball around. We knew they [Shaker] had a talented team so we tried to move the ball around and keep possession of the ball and tried to limit mistakes.”
The game never got easier for Toga as Shaker never took their foot off the gas. The combination of the mistakes of Toga’s offense and the defense’s inability to contain Shaker led to a long night. This game ended the best win streak Toga has experienced in years and leaves questions to be answered going into the final stretch of the game.
With injuries to starting quarterback Rodell Evans and running back Carter Vaughn it was bound to be a tough game, but the players came in with hope no matter the challenge. As running back Victor Santabar said, “We’re contenders now. These are the guys that win the section every year, it was going to be a tough one…but we just had to believe and not give up and not hang our heads.”
As the season is winding down, Toga remained in contention at 3rd in their section going into their next game against Shenendehowa on October 14th. Whether Toga got Evans and Vaughn back before Shen remained to be seen, however Toga won’t make any excuses. Santabar said, “We dealt with injuries last week, we dealt with injuries against Schenectady, it’s part of playing good football. I mean, Shen has guys out. They’re making adjustments, why can’t we?”
Still staying hopeful and determined, Toga aims to end the year off on a high note with wins against Shen and their homecoming game against CBA on the 28th. Wins against both teams would give Toga big momentum heading into the playoffs. Time will tell the fate of Toga this year, but seeing as the team won’t quit no matter the challenges there is reason to remain optimistic for this team.