The Cleveland football team is having a rough start. The team is ranked 42 out of 42 in the OSAA football rankings as of press time. The Warriors’ current record is 0-7, with road losses to Parkrose (32-12) in week one, Century (47-14) in week three, McDaniel (41-19) in week five, and Franklin (48-6) in week six. The Warriors home losses are to Aloha (62-6) in week two, Southridge (42-7) in week four and they lost their homecoming game to Jefferson (55-28) in week seven.

The Warriors have struggled with player commitment and injuries. The Warriors started the season with 55 players, but only 19 showed up to practice on Oct 21. 

“The game against Jefferson was our most competitive game,” senior lineman Elliot Simpson said. “The offense and defense were both really good that game, there were small mistakes that led to them making huge plays that resulted in touchdowns. Special teams needed work, they had a lot of big returns off kickoffs and punts.” 

The team feels this game was less of a loss compared to their other games. The rest of the team shared their favorite football moment as a Cleveland warrior:

Senior captain Cael Balderson is still having fun. Balderson’s favorite moment playing for the Warriors is “probably balling out as a JV quarterback.” Balderson loves football “’cause I like running around and hitting people.”

Freshman quarterback Jude Buck had to step up in place of senior Sam Ribner on short notice for the Jefferson game. Buck did a good job taking control of the team without even getting first-team snaps during practice prior to the game.

The Warriors have improved since the beginning of the season, even though they haven’t had a win. The Warriors still have hopes they can win their final two games at Corvallis on Oct. 24 and at home against Lincoln on senior night on Oct. 30.