Hastings High Tiger football came to an end last Friday, October 22nd. Over the 21-22 season, they went 2-7.
Back on August 20th, the Tigers played in a week zero home game against Lincoln North Star. The Tigers took a 23-14 fall to the Navigators.
“Over all we played good but we were just a little bit experienced and could have had more energy through the whole game,” said junior Joe Rodriguez.
On August 27th, the next game was away against the McCook Bison. The Tigers showed that they were ready to battle, but in the second quarter the Bison held us to only one touchdown while they scored two. Then in the third quarter, the Bison put up one touchdown, and in the second neither team scored.
The next week on September 3rd, the Tigers were home again. They played the Scottsbluff Bearcats. In the past years this game has been close and this year the Bearcats showed out to put the Tigers down. In a shutout game of 40-0 the Tigers had a losing streak of three games.
“Overall we just needed to execute better, we really made a lot of silly mistakes all year long” said Head Coach Charlie Shoemaker.
Friday, September 10th was a turning point for the football boys and their fans. They got their first win of the season against the Gering Bulldogs. This time instead of being shut out by a team we shutdown a different team with a final score of 33-0.
“This season is my senior season and this year we are playing with a lot of under classmen so I wasn’t as prepared cause last season it was a lot different playing with all the upperclassmen,” said senior Beau Dreher.
The fifth game played was the homecoming game. They played against the Alliance Bulldogs. In the first quarter, the Tigers put up a promising lead of 14-0. The second quarter came and the Bulldogs scored a touchdown but the Tigers held them from the extra point and came back with another touchdown. Then in the final quarter of the game the Tigers put up one more touchdown, and the defense had to fight to hold on to the game. The Bulldogs made a run for it by scoring two touchdowns but fell short. The final score of the game was 30-18 with the second Tiger victory.
On September 24th, the team headed to Seward to face the Bluejays. In the first quarter the Tigers held the Bluejays to only a field goal. Then in the second quarter, the Bluejays opened up and scored two touchdowns. In the second half the Bluejays built up their lead against the Tigers. The Tigers lost 30-7.
The Tigers next game was on October 1st. They played the York Dukes in a close game of 14-10. The Tigers didn’t come away in this game.
In the past,the Tigers have had a rivalry with Aurora, and it has always been a close game. This year on October 8th, the Huskies handed it to the Tiger football team by scoring 29 points in the first quarter alone. The overall score of the game was 43-14.
The 2021 football season came to an end last Friday, October 22nd when they played the Northwest Vikings for their ninth and final game. The Vikings took an early lead by scoring two touchdowns in the first quarter and kept scoring as the game continued. The Tigers, scored a total of four touchdowns throughout the whole game. The final score of the seniors last game was 42-28, making the Tigers final record for the 2021 season 2-7.
“We feel very good about our young groups. Our JV only lost 2 games and our freshman lost 3 by very close margins. We feel we have a nice group coming the next few years, but they need to step up their work ethic so we can be great.” said Coach Shoemaker.
