The night of October 20th would prove to be one of the most memorable nights, not just in Coyote history, but also in District history. The 7-0 Cypress Creek Coyotes were set to take on the 6-1 Parrish Community Bulls in a home game that would prove to be one for the ages. As players ran onto the field, pink smoke filled the air as they stomped on the pink-painted field, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
To begin the game, the Coyotes started strong scoring first, but the Bulls quickly answered with an interception and touchdown of their own. The Bulls would go on to score the next two touchdowns, making the score 7-20. With overall morale at a low, it seemed like the Coyotes wouldn’t be able to recover, but in a last-minute effort, Cypress ran the ball the length of the field to put another touchdown on the scoreboard, closing the half with a score of 14-20.
Student Kylee Chaney voiced her frustration with the team, as they haven’t given up this many points in any game so far. She stated how they needed to fix the mistakes they were making, so they could make a comeback.
During halftime, the Coyote band took the field, playing their hearts out for the stands. As a conclusion, the Middle School band joined the Coyotes, led by Drum Majors Gavin Stevic and Javier Quiles. High schoolers voiced their love for the middle schoolers joining them, both groups playing their hearts out. “Eighth grade night is always a blast. It’s so nostalgic to me, it brings me back to the awesome memroies I have from middle school band,” recalled senior Madeline Rish. “Not only that, but I love to see kids who are excited to be in marching band It’s such an amazing feeling to know our program will be sustained for years to come.”
Going into the third quarter, a fire ignited inside the Coyotes, as they steamrolled through the Bulls. Key players like Milton Gracia made huge plays on both offense and defense. With both sides stepping up and taking accountability, the Coyotes started their comeback, and in the closing minutes of the game, they scored the game winning touchdown, bringing the score to 41-34.
With just over a minute left on the clock, Parrish started driving down the field, but were stopped short of scoring when intercepted by Gracia. After kneeling to wind down time, the Coyotes closed their game eight with a victory. Cheer and varsity teams joined together in front of the band, arm in arm, celebrating their number one seed position in the district and what might be the game of the year for the Coyotes.
