On Friday, the Northtown Hornets football team suited up for the last time against the Platte County Pirates. Going back and forth all game, the Hornets just could not finish things off and cap off a victory to advance to the district championship game. Even with this loss and the end to the season there are a lot of things to be proud of in this young, strong football program.
 
The Hornets Offense Looked Good Early
 
The Hornets offense was a mainstay for most of this game commanding nearly drive they had. Tied at 10 towards the end of the first half senior superstar Daniel Joiner caught a TD giving the Hornets the lead 17-10. With the Pirates coming out punching in the second half our offense kept pushing but had trouble moving the ball.
 
The Defense Couldn't Hold On
 
It was a fairly low scoring first half, but it was the second half where things fell apart. The Platte County offense which features one of, if not the, best quarterbacks in the state of Missouri broke through scoring 14 points and over 150 yards in the second half alone. The Hornets defense had done a good job of containing them, but they finally broke through. In the end that paired with the offense stalling came back to haunt them.
 
Reason for Hope
 
Just because our season is over, do not count the Northtown Hornets out of anything moving forward. This team has so much talent from top to bottom it will be fun to see how much they improve by next season. The defense next year will be led by Domonique Orange, Keilan Powell, and Edric Hill, and the offense will return breakout sophomore running back J'Len Friar and junior quarterback Kail Williams.  These guys will look to lead an encouraging group of younger players going forward and will look to bounce back next year after a crushing defeat.