The sold-out event between rivals turned out to be a defensive game as the varsity football team lost 6-0 to the Thunder at Rocklin’s stadium in the third annual Quarry Bowl on Sept. 7.

Head football coach Mike Gimenez was not impressed by the result of the game. He said there were a couple of things the team could have done to better their chances of winning.

“(I’m) very disappointed,” Gimenez said. “Getting in the endzone, (and getting) down in the green zone (are things to improve on). (Next year) we want to show that we can do a better job executing. That’s what it came down to.”

The two weeks leading up to the Quarry Bowl were anything but disappointing for the team. In the first two varsity games combined, the team scored nearly 100 points, so there was strong optimism heading into the local matchup.

“We’re gonna win. We’re gonna win league, we’re gonna win state, we’re gonna get ranked,” varsity football player Nick Leal said about his expectations.

Prior to the 7:30 p.m. varsity game, the ASB presidents from both schools delivered a speech from the 50-yard line prior to kickoff; Henry Foote from Whitney, and Delany Chiu from Rocklin.

“We conduct ourselves with dignity…there will be no putting down our opponent. Everyone is watching,” they said to the crowd. Then there was a moment of silence for Christian Daniels, a 2012 graduate and former Whitney varsity football player who passed away in a motorcycle accident in late July. After that, Rocklin’s Ciara Duncan performed the national anthem. Finally, Rocklin won the coin toss and kicked off the game.

The first quarter remained stagnant. It was 0-0 the entire time, with Whitney and Rocklin holding each other off from advancing. Whitney almost made touchdowns when #13, Cody Moffitt and #8, Andrew Huskey caught the ball, but were tackled and stopped. The quarter ended with only one pass by Whitney and one run by Rocklin.

In the second quarter, Rocklin made the first and only touchdown of the game, bumping their score 6-0. Whitney started to catch up a bit when #22 Sutter Choisser caught the ball during Whitney’s pass, but Rocklin slowed their advancement.

As the third quarter started, Whitney students chanted “I believe that we can win” throughout the stadium, encouraging the football players. Even though Moffitt moved the team closer to scoring a touchdown, Rocklin denied Whitney the chance to score by preventing them from advancing through Rocklin’s 15-yard line. The score was still 6-0.

Two minutes into the fourth quarter, Whitney almost made a touchdown but the ball did not go through the goal. The score was the unswayed 6-0. Though Rocklin won, they didn’t receive much support from their student body whereas Whitney’s students displayed unrelenting pride and spirit for their players.

“Words cannot describe how proud I am that our student section was more spirited than the Rocklin side. We showed that night who truly was the better school. We kept every cheer positive and only focused on our team,” ASB coordinator Rachel Blankenship said. “We kept our spirits high throughout the whole game and worked our hardest to get our football team pumped up and excited. Although people started to leave at the end, many of us stayed to sing the fight song to our football players to show that even though the scoreboard didn’t have the results we wanted, we were still so very proud of our Wildcat boys for working as hard as they did for our school.”

Physics teacher Mr. Matt Yamamoto made a bet with the physics teacher at Rocklin, Mr. Geoffrey Clarion, that Whitney would win. Yamamoto lost the bet and now has to sing Rocklin’s fight song.

“It’s all fun and games, and this is going to be a standing bet from here on out. I was disappointed to lose this time — but that’s because no one likes losing,” Yamamoto said.

Yamamoto is not yet sure whether he will be singing the fight song at Whitney or Rocklin, but knows it will be during lunch on one of the next two Fridays.

Varsity team member #81 Ryan O’Malley is disappointed that the effort the team put into winning did not pay off.

“We practiced really hard during the week and we came out and didn’t necessarily execute (well). So, it showed on the field even though we played really hard,” O’Malley said. “We can improve on playing faster; that’s what we focus on during practice.”

Jordan Powell, #32 and a senior, won the lunch box award, which is awarded when a player works outstandingly hard in the eyes of the coaches. But it didn’t feel as special to him as it would had they won the game.

“Right now, it’s not really that great just because we lost, but we lost as a team, we played a great game,” Powell said. “(The lunch box) feels good (to get during my senior year). It just comes down to hard work, and hard work pays off but I’d rather win the game than get a lunch box.”

Coach Gimenez had a brief talk with the players after the game ended.

“The season goes on, okay. And we’ve got a lot left, a lot of things left to do. So we’ve got to relax, and move on,” Gimenez said.

by KAVLEEN SINGH