Glen Este running back Zach Rodenberg carries the ball in the first quarter of the Trojans’ Division II, Region 6 first-round playoff game on Nov. 7 against La Salle.
Glen Este running back Josh Bohart carries the ball in the first quarter of the Trojans’ Division II, Region 6 first-round playoff game on Nov. 7 against La Salle.

By Chris Chaney
Sun staff

Glen Este had not taken the field in a playoff game for eight years before Friday, Nov. 7’s Division II, Region 6 loss to top-seeded La Salle, 48-28. However, the Trojans’ performance against the odds-on favorite to win the state title proved to the GE faithful that they wouldn’t have to wait another eight years to see the postseason.

“That game was just foreshadowing of what’s going to happen next year,” Glen Este head coach Nick Ayers said. “It proves that we belong. We feel like we were top-three or four in the region, but we didn’t play well at times when it mattered. And if you don’t (play well) in a tough league, playing a tough schedule or in a tough playoff game, then you’re going to get beat.

“We can compete, we will compete and we will be pretty good next year.”

The coach’s bullish belief was buttressed by the reserve his team showed on Marge Schott Field on Friday night. An overwhelming underdog playing the top-ranked team in Division II, the Trojans were put behind the 8-ball just seconds into the game when the Lancers called up a play action pass that resulted in a 71-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage.

“First play of the game, we were definitely worried about the run and didn’t coach our (defensive back) well enough to occupy himself with the receiver,” Ayers said. “They had a great game plan and knew that we would be concentrating on the run, so they beat us deep with a pass.”

Unable to string first downs together, the Trojans offense couldn’t stay on the field in the first quarter, eventually going down 21-0.

“You can’t start slow against good football teams,” Ayers said.

With La Salle holding a comfortable lead, the Trojans did their best to make sure their opponents earned their place in the second round, wreaking havoc on special teams — blocking a punt, an extra point and recovering two fumbled punts.

GE got as close as 28-14 in the third quarter, but a pair of rushing touchdowns from La Salle’s running back tandem of Jeremy Larkin and Jarell White closed the door on the Trojans’ comeback bid.

“Our kids look at (the loss) as another brick, another block in the foundation that we’re building as a program,” Ayers said. “(The experience) gets them really excited to the point where kids are already trying to get into the weight room. We’re trying to pull them back and tell them to take some time off.

“This is just another fire lit under them to where they want to keep going, keep improving, keep building. That’s what you want, but they need to take a break and we can get back at it in a month or two.

“The kids are very hungry to be successful and they deserve to be.”

While the team takes a few weeks off to recoup from a long season, Ayers said that the excitement about the future possibilities of the football team has extended beyond the walls of the high school.

“You never know how people are going to take to something until you get there,” he said. “The support was so overwhelming (from the community) once we did and I think the kids fed off of it.

“The things we’re doing with the fight song and the alma mater and the community service and all those things outside of football that are important; we’re developing that. And with the playoff run, it just shows how important everyone coming together is.

“These kids see that, they feed off it and they continue to get better. I don’t want to predict anything, but I think it’s going to be so memorable for these kids next year.”