With the 28-7 loss to newly crowned Southwest Prairie Conference champion Oswego High School, the Plainfield South Cougars dropped to 5-4 overall, one game short of a conference championship.

Some of the players commented how the regular season went.

“It didn’t go how we wanted it to go, but we should be making a playoff run, and I think that is the ultimate goal, so I’m happy about that,” said Senior captain and linebacker Danny Saracco.

The players said they have work to do, and they have to keep working hard to make sure the team stays together.

“[This is] not the way that we wanted to end it. We just have to keep fighting; we will be fine. We are going against one of the top five teams in playoffs, but that doesn’t mean anything. We’re just going to come together as a family even more, and we’ll be fine,” said senior running back Jake Maher.

“We came up short. We didn’t accomplish all that we wanted to, but it is okay because we are still going to go to playoffs. We still have a chance of taking it all,” said senior defensive lineman Brenton Dixon.

Some of the players feel the season didn’t go as bad because the team battled through tough situations and did the best they could.

“I think are team faced adversity well in tough situations, and we worked hard but our record does not show that, so that’s disappointing,” said junior linebacker Nick Portz.

Overall, the players recognize the team had a good season even though everything did not always fall their way.

“The regular season went well, but we couldn’t catch a break,” said junior linebacker Jake Portz.

“I think it went great,” said junior defensive lineman Ryan Schwartz.

The Cougars have battled through injuries in the regular season from players with concussions (Adam Lingafelter and Enrique Carbajal) to players with season-ending injuries (Travis Fowler and Alex Krein).

“I think we started the season off a little rocky, but by week three we found our groove and haven’t looked back since. We lost a tough one to Oswego East midseason, but I think it made us realize we cannot take any teams lightly. We play every week with the urgency of a playoff game, and I think that propels us to the next level,” said junior defensive back Joe Yanke.

The Cougars seem confident in their abilities and said they will prepare to play the best football they can.

“We’re the best team around, period,” said senior defensive back Mitch Ganassin.

The players also made memories over the regular season with their teammates through tough situations that they will carry with them for a long time.

“My most memorable moment is the special bond I have with my brothers,” Schwartz said.

One common memory amongst the team was the cougars 6-3 victory over Plainfield North

“My favorite memory has to be beating North and celebrating with blue crew after the win,” Yanke said. Saracco agreed

While the boys enjoy beating North, they also believe there are more memories than just one game

“My favorite memory is probably when we beat North 6-3, but everything is a good memory it’s my senior year and we’re just going to keep going we’ll be fine,” Maher said.

“Most memorable moment was being on the field the last final plays against North,” Nick Portz said.

Playoffs are now the main focus of the Cougars with the regular season being over.

“We have Barrington this week, and I know the team is ready to come out this weekend and best our best football yet,” Yanke said.

The Cougars will look to extend their season and keep staying together through thick and thin.

The 5-4 cougars will face 8-1 the Barrington High School Broncos on Saturday Oct. 31 at 6 p.m. at Barrington High School. It is single elimination.