It was not exactly the start that the boys in Crimson and Gold were looking for kicking off the 2016 season, as they lost in a blowout, 27-7, on Friday, September 2nd, against the Lake Elsinore Lancers at Lakeside High School.

Before the game, starting Defensive End Junior David Corral felt hyped, expecting his teammates to be on the same level as he was and to dominate with their playing, setting the goal for this game: to come home with a win. His comment before the game turned out to be ironic: “Every game should be challenging but we should come home with the win this game.”

Within the first few minutes of kickoff, the Lancers made a huge mark on the scoreboard first with a couple of touchdowns back-to-back, 14-0. From then, the Jackets looked to be in trouble, not scoring for a large part of the first half of the game. However, Senior Quarterback Terry Rosario got Colton out of the scoring drought late in the second quarter as he scored a touchdown to end the half 21-7.

In the 4th quarter, the Lancers continued on their scoring momentum, making it 27-7 (which would be the final score). However, that didn’t mean the game was over, as the Jackets still tried their best to win by putting up a fight, making plays left and right, returning the ball to gain a huge amount of yards.

Defense had the mentality of doing whatever it takes to stop the Lancers from scoring but their offense was too strong as they ended the game in defeat. Captain and senior, Jake Lapinsky, had one quote to summarize the overall game: “Learning, changing, growing.”

After a tough loss, Colton now tries to focus at the next task at hands, which is against the Arroyo Valley Hawks on September 9th.