The football team lost to John Burroughs High School 38-21 last night in the final home game before the start of league play. The team was shorthanded going into the game, without its starting quarterback, Marshall Howe ’21, and both its starting safeties, Ben Lee ’21 and Chase Harleston ’21.

Led by Evan Roderick ’21 filling in at QB, the offense started well, beginning the game with a quick drive that culminated in a touchdown pass to tight end Jack Weisskopf ’21. After that, however, the Wolverines were unable to get back into the endzone until the end of the half, cutting the lead to 25-14.

On the final play of the third quarter, Roderick connected with receiver Brendan Kang ’20, bringing the deficit down to 4 points. That was as close as the team would get, however, as an interception ended up giving the ball back to Burroughs, who would score 13 unanswered points to win the game.

After the game, defensive lineman and offensive tackle Viswa Douglass ’21 said he feels the start of the season isn’t representative of what the team is capable of.

“I think today was a rough game, but it isn’t a sign of where our season’s going,” said Douglass ’21. “We just need to get back to work, and we’re going to be able to respond. This doesn’t define our season. We can still do a lot of great things, there are a lot of teams that have gone on to win championships that started worse than this. We just have to move on to the next game, and send a message that winning is what we do.”

Football’s next game is at Salesian High School, on Sept. 20 at 7:00 P.M.