Jefferson’s football team celebrated their win 16-7 against Catholic High School in their senior night game on Friday, Oct. 21.

Although the Colonials ended with a clear win, the first 25 minutes of the game was a rough start with no team scoring until senior Justin Yoo marked the first touchdown.

“The highlight of the game was probably anytime Justin Yoo—number seven—touched the ball,” freshman Abdul Bundu said. “Anytime he touched the ball, he was gone.”

After Yoo broke the ice, both sides warmed up and the game became more intense. Another touchdown by senior Ethan Chitturi followed closely behind, increasing the Colonials’ lead against the Crusaders and making any chance of a turnaround unlikely.

“There are definitely a lot of games that we lost due to us making mistakes that we shouldn’t have made, but I think we did good with this game. It was pretty fun,” Bundu said.

Despite the Colonials’ success throughout the game, they lacked a sufficient audience, with only a few people on each row of the stands. The small audience could have been caused by the cold weather, but this is unable to explain the regular lack of people throughout the season.

“I wouldn’t say that [a small audience] affects my performance in particular, but since the beginning of the season the attendance has been kind of low. It’s a little saddening seeing it, but I wouldn’t say it affects the game too much,” Bundu said.

These challenges are looked past when the team comes together as a small but tight community.

“TJ sports is very interesting. I remember the off-season when I found all the TJ sport socials and a hashtag: ‘We came for the sports.’ When I came to the football team, I didn’t expect for there to only be one team because with football teams you’re going through this whole entire process, so it’s interesting. But everyone in the team is really nice and the coaches are super fun,” Bundu said.

Other than enjoying each moment and having fun, being on the football team has significantly changed Bundu’s “TJ experience.”

“There were only three people from my middle school other than me that came to TJ, so a lot of the friends I have are on the football team,” Bundu said. “Without the football team, I wouldn’t have as many people to talk to as I do now.”