(Looking for Joselyn Duran Corona’s photo essay of this game and final performances by cheer, dance, and marching band? Click here.)

The Wildcats fell to the Glenbard East Rams 41-6 on Oct. 10 at Memorial Field during their senior night.

On senior night for the Wildcats, everyone played their hearts out — including the Rams. The Rams came out with a 41-6 victory over West Chicago. They elected to receive the ball first, and West Chicago got a big stop, but when the Wildcats got the ball back, they struggled to move the chains. This would be the story of the night, as West Chicago couldn’t get their offense going. Glenbard East put their foot on the gas pedal and took it to the Wildcats. They came out scoring on their second drive, which was the first of many for them.

“You know, we are a family, so if one person does bad, then we all do bad. Just gotta come back next week,” sophomore Joel Montgomery said.

Montgomery had two interceptions. The Wildcats struggled to get their offense going all game. Glenbard East’s defense read and picked up on the Wildcats’ run game, and that was a huge plus for the Rams. Since they shut down the run, they were able to hold West Chicago to just six points on the tenth.

“The mentality has to change. We were good at the start of the game — the defense was flying around and making plays — but as soon as guys went down and we let up a score, it started snowballing,” junior Geoffrey Fleming said. “So we have to have the same ‘let’s go’ drive and mentality throughout the whole game, no matter what happens, and we have to take that into next week with a lot of guys out.”

The Wildcats fall to 4-2 on the season, while the Rams improve to 6-1. Glenbard East is 4-0 in conference, which puts them first overall, and West Chicago is 2-2 and fourth. West Chicago faces Riverside-Brookfield next week, and the Rams face Glenbard South.

“The main thing we’ll have to focus on is getting healthy and then practicing with more energy,” Sweeney said. “This week in practice, we have to focus on our fundamentals and staying focused — not letting the last loss get to us and just playing with the intensity and drive this football team has. This team is special and more than capable of winning our next couple of games.”