A Final Farewell on Senior Night
Senior Night closes the season
Senior Caleb Gonzaba takes down the Drippings Springs runner
November 12, 2014
The Lions finished their season 0-10 against the Dripping Springs Tigers 28-14, saying farewell to the seniors.
To start off the game, all of the senior players walked onto the field, but only three went to shake hands with Dripping Springs. Seniors Jacob Hanawalt, Jonathan Permenter, and Brandon Hopp represented the Lions for the coin toss.
“It wasn’t just any other game,” Hopp said. “It was the last game and we really just had to go out there, [and] I knew that I had to have a good game.”
The Tigers kicked off and junior Gabriel Sanchez was stopped on the 48. The ball was soon intercepted by Dripping Springs, but punted the ball back and forth until there was 6:41 left on the clock and the Tigers scored a 13 yard touchdown run. The extra point was good, leading 7-0. After several punts and flags on both teams, the quarter ended, the score unchanged.
“We knew we had to have a lot of guys step up,” Hopp said. “We had guys that had played offense the whole time playing defense.”
The Tigers began the quarter with the ball on the Lions’s 18 yard line, and scored within three minutes and received the ball after a punt with 7:43 left in the half. The Tigers were close to the endzone, but were unable to score and elected to attempt a field goal. However, junior cornerback Isaiah Turner blocked the kick, allowing senior Caleb Gonzaba, playing defensive end, to score a touchdown for the Lions, 14-7.
It wasn’t just any other game. It was the last game and we really just had to go out there, [and] I knew that I had to have a good game.
— Senior Brandon Hopp
“I was really confused at first because I didn’t know where the ball was, so I was kind of looking around,” Gonzaba said. “I saw it spinning in the endzone and I started running towards it, and it was spinning in circles, and I was really hoping in my head that it didn’t go out of the endzone.”
The Tigers returned the ball to their own 37 yard line with 4:49 left in the half. After a false start two minutes later, Dripping Springs scored a touchdown and an extra point, making it 21-7, but the Lions weren’t done yet. After a passing interference on the Tigers, sophomore quarterback Parker McNeil threw a touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Mikael Dawkins, ending the quarter 21-14 to Dripping Springs.
“We knew that we had to stop them and get the offense the ball back,” Gonzaba said.
The third quarter went without score and the boys moved onto the fourth and final. The Tigers had the ball and scored within the first five seconds, making it 28-14, the final score of the game.
“I was upset because I couldn’t play, that I couldn’t go back in,” Hopp said. “I asked Coach to give me one more carry after I messed up my knee, and I ran the ball one last time and that’s when I knew I was done. I couldn’t play through it anymore.”
The Lions said farewell to their seniors and their season.
“Enjoy it – it goes too fast,” Hopp said. “I never thought the four years would have gone as fast as it did. Don’t think that that one rep doesn’t matter because you’re going to come back and you’re going to regret it.”
