Pleasant Valley Spartan Football had a challenge ahead of them going into the game with Dubuque Senior. That challenge was a slim shot of the team making the playoffs. With PV needing to win by six and many other things needing to fall into place, PV was hoping high as always and ready to play some football. The game starts and on one of the first plays PV’s senior linebacker Cameron Trentz comes bursting through the Dubuque Senior line and hits the running back forcing a fumble which is recovered by Senior defensive lineman Brady Bormann. With such a quick turnover the players and crowd erupted with excitement because PV’s chances to make the playoffs started to look better. After this fumble, the Spartan offense led by quarterback Terry Saul jumps into action scoring a quick seven points early in the first. Dubuque Senior gets the ball back after kickoff and again linebacker Cameron Trentz causes another fumble on one of the first few plays of the offensive series. By this point, the game seemed completely in PV’s hands, even in the first quarter. Something seemed to click that was missing the whole year. Maybe it was the seniors wanting to give it their all for their last game, or maybe it was a hope-driven performance but either way PV dominated the game putting up an end score of 45-14. With such a barn burner backup seniors who never saw playing time got a chance to shine under the big lights and all the crowd. It was what seemed to be the perfect night for the senior’s last football game until that final horn struck.
All of a sudden the news broke loose. Dubuque Hempstead was not able to beat Western Dubuque which would have secured PV the shot at a playoff run. The seniors seemed to dismay, releasing all of the emotion and hard work they had put out throughout the year. With tears rolling down their eyes and hugs from their mothers, the Spartan seniors seemed to realize that that was the last game they would ever play with their band of brothers. But in the midst of all this sadness, there was what seemed to be a sort of joy throughout the seniors, caused by the show they put on that same night. Was it a real moral victory or was the paper victory not good enough for the Spartan seniors?
A moral victory is an idea that many people are split sided on. Is there such thing as a moral victory? An ancient Greek philosopher Socrates believed there was and that Friday night seemed to prove it. It was more of a moral loss but that inversely proves that with opposite results, the crowd would have seen happiness instead of looks of defeat. Senior running back and team captain CJ Carter seemed to have an interesting view on this idea. When asked how he felt after the sad news CJ responded, “To be honest I had a feeling we weren’t going to make the playoffs because I knew it would be hard for Hempstead to beat Western Dubuque. I’d say I was disappointed to not make the playoffs because how we played the last two games of the season showed we were capable of being very good.” The captain of the front line Mark Conway and his fellow students had given it their all to, showing up shirtless to games in the low forties. Mark was also asked how he felt after he heard the news and he responded by saying, “I was disappointed with the results but I know our team is better than the record shows.” This hints at the idea of moral victory within that last game.
When asked about the idea of a moral victory existing CJ responded, “I’d say there is such a thing as moral victory. We knew we needed to win the last game of the season to have any chance to make the playoffs and we did what we were supposed to do but it wasn’t enough so the last win of the year on senior night ended up a moral victory.” With a moral victory to end it, the Seniors put up an eventful season and gave it their all in their last year as a group of teammates.
