I feel for you.
I was talking to a friend yesterday, and he said something I think really rings true - I’d rather lose by getting our butt kicked than have it be close. Now, no player or coach at HC is thinking “if I only had done x instead of z”, or “if one of our largest threats was healthy, we’d have won.” In the HC lose, not a single play or individual would have changed the outcome. It was much deeper than that. Hopefully it brings some solace and eases the pain for those Seniors.
Bolingbrook deserved to win and was definitely the better team that fateful night. The 2 offensive guards for Bolingbrook and the 2 running backs were legit.
The final turning point was at 21-6 and the missed fumble by the refs that was clearly recovered by HC. There's a hi res picture of the tackle showing the ball was out. That said, it's not clear it would have made a difference in the end, but going into half down 21-6 instead of 28-6 would have been huge.
I finally got the will to go watch the game film. There were plenty of opportunities to make stops that just didn't go HC's way that night. My kid (defensive starter) was ill at the plays he missed.
But, all the kids played their guts out and left it all out on the field. We took some terrible injuries that game too. And, even if HC won, they would have been severely depleted for round 2.
