Photo of Wyatt Nelson | Taken by Kelly Christ

On September 27, the Patriots had their hearts crushed after their first loss to the Legacy Sabers. To make matters worse, it was a 42-13 beating on their homecoming anniversary.

Legacy quarterback Easton Bergrud had a field day dicing up Century’s defense. He broke Legacy’s school record for most passing yards in a single game with 300 yards and three touchdowns. This is shocking because the expectation was that a majority of the talent would come from the running backs with Legacy’s junior Yusuf Jama and Century’s explosive duo of senior Jerys Burckhard and sophomore Carter Wylde. Jama and Begrud were the two SportsClips' MVPs Of The Game with the aforementioned Bergrud’s incredible statline and Jama’s similar three touchdowns and 144 yards. As well as being one of the SportsClips' MVP Of The Game, Jama has made three straight appearances on North Dakota's “Longest Runs” where week two showcased his 80-yard rushing touchdown against Fargo North. However, the situation for the Patriots did not turn out quite as expected. Jerys Burckhard faced a brutal ankle injury early in the game that led him to be ridden to the bench for the entirety of the game. Burckhard, who is the soul of the Century offense, has six touchdowns on the season, so when the team saw him go down, they knew the game was already over.

Century has four football state championships compared to Legacy's zero state championships. Although the Patriots have been around longer, when they won their championships in the mid to late 2010’s, Legacy had a well-established football team. Legacy started their football journey in the 15-16 season and did not win a single game. They won their first game in the season opener of the 16-17 season against Sheyanne where now Horizon Middle School basketball and track coach Jason Hoekstra threw for 149 yards and one touchdown. In fact, Legacy started off their 16-17 season with a four-week winning streak beating out Sheyanne, Devils Lake, Williston, and Bismarck but were eventually stopped by Century which ended in a score of 54-6, which is ironic considering the loss the Patriots just had to Legacy.

Freshman football fan Easton Eggert knows the loss is disappointing and feels the Century student body didn't add enough support. “I think people just need to be less embarrassed about the chants in the student section and just have fun with it. I don’t think it would have helped us win, but it would have definitely been a more fun atmosphere for everyone else,” Eggert said. “Because people are embarrassed to put themselves out there and do outgoing stuff."