The glaring lights of Bates Field shone down on the players as City High and Ottumwa battled to continue their seasons and move on to the next leg of the state playoffs. By the end of the game, City High had secured a convincing victory over Ottumwa with a score of 41-16.

“It was great seeing the players so happy after two tough losses,” head coach Dan Sabers said.

While celebrating their victory, the players were already looking for ways to get better.

“I think that our team did a great job executing the fundamentals of football tonight [however] we need to improve our tackling,” Ethan Goodrich’ 22 said.

On Friday, October 23, the team goes on to face West High in the second round of the state playoffs. West and City have faced once before this season resulting in a loss of 20-56 for the Little Hawks.

“I’m very excited for another opportunity to play West,” Goodrich said, “because we have an opportunity to show that we are a different team than we were at the beginning of the season.”