The football team took a 35-18 loss to Francis Howell North Friday. Although the team has been working hard, their competition seems to become progressively stronger and more difficult to compete against.

Senior Connor Riebel addressed the increasingly difficult competition they have been faced with the past few games. Although they have played hard, there are things the team could be doing better.

“The competition has gotten a lot harder, that’s why we haven’t been performing as well. As a team, we haven’t been working as hard as we were at the beginning of the season in practice,” Riebel said.

In addition to working harder, the overall mindset of the team has taken a negative turn which is having a negative effect on not only the outcome of the games, but on the individual players as well, according to Junior Lamarr Willingham.

“[We need to work on] aggressiveness. We weren’t aggressive off the ball, which we should have been. I think that’s one of the main reasons we lost,” Willingham said.

The aggressive mindset possessed by the players at the beginning of the season seems to be a necessary aspect of the team’s performance. Although they have continually worked strenuously through practices, the essentiality of an optimistic outlook on the team during games has become evident. Junior Anthony Niswonger drew attention to the importance of a more hopeful vibe within the team.

“Really, we just haven’t believed as much as we should have since we lost the [past] two games. After the first few, everyone was all hype about it, but now it’s just not the same,” Niswonger said.

Although the Spartans have suffered through three recent losses, FHC’s upcoming homecoming game is one to get excited for. With Riebel being only one touchdown away from beating a school record, supporters can depend on a hard fight against Fort Zumwalt West this upcoming Friday.