Prior to this season, the Glendale High School football team had only one winning season in the past twenty years, and that was back in 2008. Over these past two decades, Nitro fans had become used to losing seasons, with last year’s team finishing with a record of 1-9.
As we had reported previously, the 2023 season looked to be no different. Our previous coach had been fired after three losing seasons, and the new coaches only arrived midway through the summertime. Our football players had mere days to practice and prepare for the games ahead of them.
Most people would have expected this to be a rebuilding year. But it was much more than that.
The first week, our football team went on the road against a Duarte High School squad that was eager to improve on their 5-6 record from the year before. They were expecting their matchup with GHS to be a warm-up game that would help their team settle into their season, but they were wrong.
After falling into an eleven-point hole at halftime, our team fought their way back into the game and came away with the victory, 29-26. This would give our players all the motivation they needed for the next few weeks ahead.
They then took on the Mendez football team for their first home game of the season. This ended up being an afternoon game, because of issues with the installation of the new lights inside Moyse Stadium. Regardless, our team won the game, 19-9.
Our team then went out on the road again to take on Mark Keppel. It was a wet, sloppy game, but nonetheless, our squad had another win, with a final of 32-6.
After this 3-0 start, our football team faced Beverly Hills High School at home, and they saw themselves with a touchdown deficit at halftime. But our team overcame this setback, and our new lights were flickering after every touchdown scored. Our Nitros eventually defeated Beverly Hills, 22-6. This would then lead to us winning our fifth game in a row, against Verbum Dei High School, following a dominating 35-8 victory.
The impossible had finally occurred: the Glendale football team was undefeated, with a record of 5-0. The last time this had happened was 1992.
However, the lack of real preparation and practice during the winter and springtime led our team to losing their last five games of the season, against Glenn High School, Bassett High School, Rowland High School, and Grace High School. Our team ended its season with a 44-14 loss to Hoover High School, at our annual Homecoming Game on October 26th.
Although these last few losses have hurt our overall record, the Glendale Nitros were only supposed to rebuild and regroup this year. So with a 5-5 record, and a great future ahead, our team is looking brighter than ever.
Kyle Robertson, who is one of the best players on our team, believes that our football squad has a lot to build on for next year. “As a team we all need to work harder and give football all the energy we have,” he said. “I’m personally very excited to finally get to play my first full season next year”.
In his freshman year at Loyola, Kyle played five games. But during his sophomore year at GHS, he was only able to play four games because of the league rules for transfer athletes.
Mark Dacles, one of our football team captains for next year, is really looking forward to the upcoming season. “Coming off of our 5-5 season and losing the bell, our team is hungry to come back and make some noise in the Pacific League,” he said. “We have a chance to make the playoffs and make history next year, so we’re all excited and ready to work.”
Both GHS and Hoover have been in the lower Pacific League for the past few years, allowing them to make their own schedules. However, this gives both teams a zero percent chance of making the playoffs.
With our team eager to win and to prepare for the competition next year, it’s likely that Glendale football will make a push to try and re-enter the Pacific League. But for now, all we can do is look back at our team’s historic season, and only imagine what it’ll be like next year.
Keep your heads up, Nitros. This is only the beginning of a new era.
