By BUTCH HARMON
After being a playoff regular for over a decade, the Fulton football team will be on the sidelines this season.
For the past 14 years, the Pirates have qualified for the playoffs, and 20 out of the last 21 years have ended with Fulton competing in the postseason.
This year a lack of numbers in the senior class led to a young team that turned in a 3-6 overall record.
“We have only nine boys in the entire senior class and five of those boys played football,” coach John Winkler said. “We were such a young team this year. We also had some bad luck. We lost two games in the final minutes.”
Fulton had 21 players on the varsity this year, and that meant that many young players were brought up.
“We had a freshman quarterback, Jake Litwiller, who really improved throughout the year. We also brought up a lot of sophomores.”
The Pirates did have a number of seniors who played key roles, led by fullback/middle linebacker Joe Wilson.
“Joe was a punishing fullback that we are going to miss,” Winkler said. “Jake Knight was a senior receiver who led us in receptions and interceptions on defense.”
While the Pirates lose some key players, the bulk of the team returns next year, led by junior running back Tyler Spade, who led the team in rushing.
“We are looking forward to next year,” Winkler said. “We have a lot of guys back, and we plan on making it back to the playoffs. The kids are used to making the playoffs. Just look at my quarterback – his entire life we have made the playoffs until this year. It was a culture shock not making the playoffs.”