(Exira) On Friday night KSOM replayed the 8-Player State Football Finals between Don Bosco and Exira-EHK with the Dons winning 18-14. We caught up with former Spartan Bret Johnson to reflect on that season.
Exira-EHK and Don Bosco were tied at #1 in the final AP rankings that year. Don Bosco didn’t take their first lead until 1:13 remained in the game and it came down to the final possession to decide a winner. “It was a great game and the two best teams were at it at the end of the season. It proves that fact, because we were up going into halftime. It was a great team. It was a tough battle and obviously it didn’t go in our favor, but that’s ok. It was a great season.”
Johnson describes the feeling immediately afterwards as being a letdown, but over time it’s turned into more pride in the fact they made it as far as they did. “We had it in our grasp and we were disappointed, but later on as the weeks progressed it was a very eye opening experience and humbling experience. Even though it wasn’t the outcome we wanted, we should be very proud of what we accomplished.
It was without a doubt, the pinnacle of Exira-EHK football. The Spartans in that stretch won 29 consecutive regular season games including back-to-back undefeated regular season’s in 2012 and 2013. “It was fun, the motto going into it was ‘Together’ and we showed that through practices, conditioning, and the weight room in the offseason. We had a set goal and whether we talked about it or not. We wanted to do great things and we pushed each other. We enjoyed it, we had fun with it, and I think that’s what made us excel.”
Next week’s classic game schedule has the CAM girls basketball win that sent them to the state tournament. We’ll replay the Cougar’s dominant win over Colo-NESCO in the 2019 Regional Finals.
