The football team (5–6) fell to the Blake Bengals (10–0) 35–7 Thursday night in the regional semifinals to end their season.

Both defenses held their own throughout the first six minutes of the contest until Blake opened up the scoring with a long passing touchdown to give them a 7–0 advantage. The Vikes’ defense got back up to speed for the rest of the first quarter, but they again faltered early in the second quarter as Blake added to their lead with a goal-line rushing touchdown. Whitman’s only game score came late in the second quarter from a red zone passing touchdown from junior quarterback Connor Werkman to senior receiver Andrew Durix.

Coming out of the half, the Vike’s defense couldn’t keep up with the Bengals offense. Blake immediately kept up the scoring with a long passing touchdown. Whitman’s defense shut down the Bengals’ offense for the rest of the game until the final minutes, when the Bengals tacked on one more touchdown, making the final score 35–7.

Senior captain and defensive end Zach Dawson reflected on his Whitman football career as this season was one for the history books.

“It was amazing,” Dawson said. “Senior year was definitely one of the best seasons I’ve had in a while.”

Whitman’s historical season has come to an end. The Vikings achieved their highest winning percentage since 2016 to go along with winning their first home playoff game since 1976. Head coach Sean Pierce and his coaching staff have a lot to build off of heading into next season.