Three seconds left on the clock. The air is tense. Everyone is quiet – hoping, wishing and praying as the kicker, junior Jose Gutierrez, gets ready. And then, the crowd roars, everyone jumps up and down, the band starts playing, seniors are crying everywhere you turn. The game is won, 38-37 over W.T. White.

“I knew we were gonna win,” Gutierrez said. “It was really exciting, because I knew we hadn’t won a game in a few years.”

Before the winning field goal, the team was down 37-35. After about 28 straight losses, everyone had a different reaction to the first victory of the season of course, but most were simply crying.

“I cried, because of excitement and joy,” senior Salvador Romero said. “Because we finally did it.”

The win meant a lot to everyone on the team, and even to everyone in the stands, but obviously, it meant the most to the seniors of the team.

“As seniors it means more [because] it’s the last time,” senior quarterback Zach Duffey said.” “[We] gotta give everything [we] got.”

Duffey threw three of the five touchdowns of the night, helping the team tremendously, but he couldn’t do it alone.

“The coaches, because we have some new ones, they came in over the summer and helped us out,” Duffey said. “Everybody’s closer now than in past years. We feel like we gotta do it for each other.”

The winning field goal was scored by Gutierrez. He is the only kicker on the team, meaning he is always the one to go up for field goals. Gutierrez said the experience was no different than his practices and believes everyone on the team had a part to play in this game-changer.

“The whole team did their job,” Gutierrez said. “We’re gonna keep on going, keep trying to win.”

 Many of the players, as well as Head Coach Joe Castillo, believe the team will bring home another win this Friday against Hillcrest. Some players even believe they will make it to the playoffs; however, Castillo would rather not look so far ahead.

“We’ve been [telling] the kids since last spring that they’re a playoff team,” Castillo said. “[However] I don’t try to get too far ahead, because the focus has to be on the next opponent. I want to make sure it’s about the kids, the coaches and the community.”

Although Castillo doesn’t like comparing his teams, he does say that last year’s team set the team up this year for much of their success.

“The 2014 team – they didn’t win a game but they did a lot for this team,” Castillo said. “They set the example for them. There’s just more commitment now. [This team] believes they can win. We’re looking forward; we want to do something positive.”