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Find the the infographic that goes along with this story at https://e.infogr.am/a-season-to-remember/

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Concluding their season on Nov. 8, the Spartans walked off of the gridiron losing 34-13 against the Rock Bridge Bruins. While the team ended its final game in defeat in the middle of their district tournament, the team still achieved something worth noting: a much improved overall seasonal record. Ending the season with an overall record of 7-4, the team had achieved its best seasonal record since 2006 (which was 8-3).

Head Coach Todd Berck explained the factors that positively changed the team’s performance and led to the team’s successful season this year.

“The success was no accident. It started in the weight room with our kids right after the season ended last year. It was really commitment by our seniors over a two-year period of time to make a commitment to the weight room and work hard, so that’s where it started. We had good weight room attendance all year last year and our seniors led that,” said Coach Berck. “That’s the formula for success: just hard work, and our kids worked extremely hard. They were a good group of kids, they were [also] good athletes to go along with the hard work. When you have good kids that are working hard and are good athletes, good things are going to happen.”

Senior offensive tackle Brendan Sullivan expressed the team’s excitement and pride over their success this year.

“We all feel very accomplished, especially the seniors, because a lot of it was on us because we had a lot of seniors starters and we put in a lot of work to become as good as we did this year,” said Sullivan.

As to what else changed and made the team better this season, there were several factors that played a role in having a positive impact on the team’s performance. Besides the team’s built up motivation and anticipation for its chance to be successful, they also had some changes in tactics on the field. Sullivan explained some of the positive changes made to the team’s offense.

“I think the biggest part was that, because last year was our first year running [the ball], this year we were more comfortable running it and we had a pretty decent amount of returners,” said Sullivan. “We ran the ball a lot more this year. We had a completely healthy offensive line and Kendall [Morris] was a very good running back, so we utilized that. We just added a lot more plays from last years plays and were able to a lot more things than we were able to do in the past.”

Sullivan also explained the benefits that the team’s defense offered this year.

“For defense, I think what we lacked in size we made up with speed and athleticism,” said Sullivan. “We ran a different defense last year and we changed it this year to help our team. We weren’t the biggest team, but we were a very athletic and fast team on defense.”

With the team’s successful season now finished, it’s now up to next year’s seniors to take the lead and to become a great team. Despite having to live up to such high expectations, the team’s hopes and dreams have not deterred. Coach Berck explained how rampant the motivation was among the juniors to prepare for their next season.

“It seems like we have a group of kids that are committed to the same thing our seniors were last year. Friday night after our huddle after the game they were wanting to come back and lift on Monday morning,” said Coach Berck. “Normally we take a little bit of time off and they didn’t want to. We had 30-something kids in the weight room [last] Wednesday, and we’ll continue to try to keep this ball rolling.”

As stated by Coach Berck, the juniors remain ready to do whatever they can to succeed next year. Junior running back Kevin Bayer explained the juniors’ inclination to workout and prepare for next year.

“We’re doing mostly the same kind of workouts we did last year,” said Bayer. “We’re doing a lot of cardio, and we’re really trying to push because after seeing all of the success from this year we really have hope for next year to win a conference title.”

————————————————————————————————————-

Find the the infographic that goes along with this story at https://e.infogr.am/a-season-to-remember/

————————————————————————————————————-

Concluding their season on Nov. 8, the Spartans walked off of the gridiron losing 34-13 against the Rock Bridge Bruins. While the team ended its final game in defeat in the middle of their district tournament, the team still achieved something worth noting: a much improved overall seasonal record. Ending the season with an overall record of 7-4, the team had achieved its best seasonal record since 2006 (which was 8-3).

Head Coach Todd Berck explained the factors that positively changed the team’s performance and led to the team’s successful season this year.

“The success was no accident. It started in the weight room with our kids right after the season ended last year. It was really commitment by our seniors over a two-year period of time to make a commitment to the weight room and work hard, so that’s where it started. We had good weight room attendance all year last year and our seniors led that,” said Coach Berck. “That’s the formula for success: just hard work, and our kids worked extremely hard. They were a good group of kids, they were [also] good athletes to go along with the hard work. When you have good kids that are working hard and are good athletes, good things are going to happen.”

Senior offensive tackle Brendan Sullivan expressed the team’s excitement and pride over their success this year.

“We all feel very accomplished, especially the seniors, because a lot of it was on us because we had a lot of seniors starters and we put in a lot of work to become as good as we did this year,” said Sullivan.

As to what else changed and made the team better this season, there were several factors that played a role in having a positive impact on the team’s performance. Besides the team’s built up motivation and anticipation for its chance to be successful, they also had some changes in tactics on the field. Sullivan explained some of the positive changes made to the team’s offense.

“I think the biggest part was that, because last year was our first year running [the ball], this year we were more comfortable running it and we had a pretty decent amount of returners,” said Sullivan. “We ran the ball a lot more this year. We had a completely healthy offensive line and Kendall [Morris] was a very good running back, so we utilized that. We just added a lot more plays from last years plays and were able to a lot more things than we were able to do in the past.”

Sullivan also explained the benefits that the team’s defense offered this year.

“For defense, I think what we lacked in size we made up with speed and athleticism,” said Sullivan. “We ran a different defense last year and we changed it this year to help our team. We weren’t the biggest team, but we were a very athletic and fast team on defense.”

With the team’s successful season now finished, it’s now up to next year’s seniors to take the lead and to become a great team. Despite having to live up to such high expectations, the team’s hopes and dreams have not deterred. Coach Berck explained how rampant the motivation was among the juniors to prepare for their next season.

“It seems like we have a group of kids that are committed to the same thing our seniors were last year. Friday night after our huddle after the game they were wanting to come back and lift on Monday morning,” said Coach Berck. “Normally we take a little bit of time off and they didn’t want to. We had 30-something kids in the weight room [last] Wednesday, and we’ll continue to try to keep this ball rolling.”

As stated by Coach Berck, the juniors remain ready to do whatever they can to succeed next year. Junior running back Kevin Bayer explained the juniors’ inclination to workout and prepare for next year.

“We’re doing mostly the same kind of workouts we did last year,” said Bayer. “We’re doing a lot of cardio, and we’re really trying to push because after seeing all of the success from this year we really have hope for next year to win a conference title.”