Irvington Football’s season has come to a close, with their last game played on November 7th. The Vikings maintained a successful 6-3 record and have a shot at playoffs, demonstrating their tremendous improvement from previous years. 

Quarterback Vivaan Tiwari (11) comments, “I think the team has done amazing. Compared to last year, we are now a more complete team. We have much more chemistry together and the offense and the defense runs better together.” This teamwork carried the team through a rough beginning and tough schedule. Co-captain Tommy Chang (12) also commented on how the team’s bond pushed them to success, saying, “I think the team is performing pretty good right now. The chemistry is very strong and we’re playing well in games,” Chang said. “At the start of the year, we didn’t fully trust each other, and we didn’t have that much confidence in ourselves. After winning a couple games, we built that confidence up and we built trust in each other a lot more.” There were also challenges early in the season. “At the start, two of our main players got injured, so backups had to step up and we were dealing with cramps a lot during the game, so we also had to be healthier before games to make sure that we were solid” Chang mentioned.

The team’s captains credited several reasons to their turnaround in the season and compared to previous years. Chang comments, “The biggest thing is to keep morale up, and even after losses or bad events, you have to keep morale up in order to make sure that the team keeps progressing forward.” Co-captain Brayden Kubiak (12) added that having a solid mindset helped the team stay motivated after an initial loss at the beginning of the season, “we really had a different mindset from how we entered the season because we thought that we were going to just have another undefeated season, then we realized that we couldn’t do that and we had to work harder overall as a team.” Agustine Sedano (12), another co-captain, added onto that statement, saying, “We had a disappointment in our first week, but we really bounced back from that, showing that we could compete with everyone in our league. We really showed grit by coming back and I’m proud of our team’s ability to fight, and even if we don’t have the best conditions, we’re able to put in the work and succeed.”

Co-captain Carlos Lopez (12) said that unity and teamwork carried the team through their challenges. “I think we performed really well,” Lopez said. “There were some games where we could have done better, but I think we all came together at the end and it went really well.” He added that the captains focused on leadership and encouragement by, “trying to inspire them and let them know it’s going to be ok, and we’re going to be a good team. 

Head Coach Anthony Jackson added he’s proud of the progress the team made this year. “We’re six and three. A lot of our goals are still intact,” Coach Jackson said. “We can still win seven games, which is more wins than they got around here in a really long time.” He also added that the dedication from the team, especially the seniors, was what made the season special, “We have 14 seniors, and I’m most proud that I got a chance to stick with those guys and all 14 of those would be standout players.”