The varsity football team’s season ended Friday Oct. 20, after a first round regional loss against Winneconne. Going into the playoffs the team had an overall record of 7-2 and a conference record of 5-2.
“We played a tough schedule heading into the playoffs. We played the #1 ranked Division 3 team and the #5 ranked Division 3 team in Port Washington and Plymouth respectively. Those types of teams certainly prepare us for playoff level football,” Head Coach Joe Stellmacher said.
With Port Washington and Plymouth being the team’s only losses, sophomore right guard Jakob Martin said he felt they were prepared for what playoffs had to bring.
“We all felt really great going in. We had a good week of practice. But, the game didn’t go how we thought, we had a lot of little mess ups that cost us and brought us down as a team,” Martin said.
While Berlin took an early lead in Friday’s match up, soon their turnovers began to catch up with them.
“We really didn’t turn the ball over much all season, and then to have five turnovers in a playoff game was very uncharacteristic of us. We gained 428 total yards and if you told me we were going to put that many yards up, I would have said we would have won the game convincingly. But you just can’t turn the ball over, especially in the playoffs,” Stellmacher said.
The Indians were not able to regain momentum as the game began to slip away in the second quarter. The final score of the game was 20-35.
The team is sad to see the seniors go but will not forget the lasting effects they left.
“Knowing the connection with the seniors this year would end was hard on everyone. We knew that with each game we played the time would soon come where we wouldn’t get to play with some of our best buddies on the field ever again,” Martin said.
Though the season came to an early end, senior quarterback Parker Hess will still take away many memories and lessons he acquired from his four years on the field.
“This season was extra special because I got to play with my younger brother and I will alway value the many memories I got to make with him and my other teammates these past four years,” Hess said.
Not only will the players take away lessons and memories, the same goes for their coach who has seen them grow and progress through their time as Berlin football players.
“The highlight for me was coaching just a fine group of young men. They were such a blessing to coach and such great student-athletes. I loved this team and, as I told them after the game, I’ll coach this team and be a part of this high school and community all day, every day, over the community we just played,” Stellmacher said.
