With 3:44 left in the final quarter of Friday’s (Sept. 2) game against Parkway Central, the tigers were losing on their home turf.

At that moment, on third down and two, Jake Cracchiolo (9) ran the ball 18 yards to the end zone for a touchdown. It was Cracchiolo’s first touchdown on varsity.

“It (didn’t) even feel like it happened. I felt as if I was in a dream or something,” Cracchiolo said.

While Cracchiolo’s touchdown may have been like a “dream,” the game was a nightmare for the team.

Parkway Central’s Jayden Mitchell scored the first touchdown on the sixth play of the game. Numerous turnovers and penalties, accompanied with an unstable defense, allowed the Colts to race to a 35-0 halftime lead on their way to a 49-7 victory.

“There’s eleven guys out there,” OHS Coach Arlee Conners said. “Each guy out there has a job to do, and if every guy does their job, they have good plays. Unfortunately, we didn’t have every guy doing their job. I would say we had a few guys doing their job, and too many of them not. When you have stuff like that, that’s when you get lopsided losses.”

Conners believes the team lacked energy and needed to exert more effort. The players agree.

“I feel like we just didn’t bring the intensity. We were quiet. If we would’ve been more toned up, and not just really down and quiet, we would’ve had a better game,” Cracchiolo said.

Even with a 0-3 record, Conners still has hope as the team travels to Northwest Cedar Hill on Sept. 9.

“This is an early part of the season, and we still have a chance to win our conference. We haven’t played a conference game yet, so there’s something to be positive about. But we’ve got to start off by doing us, and right now we’re still having a hard time doing that,” Conners said.