On Friday Oct. 17, the Stevenson Patriots brought home the victory against the Zion Benton Zee-Bees for their Senior Night 40 – 21. The Patriots fought hard on both sides of the ball, putting up five touchdowns during a strong offensive night while holding their opponents to just three scores.

The night began with activities honoring all of the seniors in fall activities that are involved during the games, such as the varsity football team, marching band, and color guard. The Patriots set the pace for the game with a quick rushing touchdown from the two yard line.

“I’m super happy that since tonight was senior night the energy was great and we were all lifting each other up,” Aidan Elliott ’26 said.

Elliott said the juniors on the team offered lots of encouragement to the seniors in hopes of a win, which he said motivated the seniors and the rest of the team. The team played complementary football throughout the night, with the defense consistently doing their part to secure the victory.

“The defense gave us great field position, and it overall was very strong, helping us get back on offense quickly,” Aidan Crawley ’26 said.

After the Patriot defense forced a turnover on downs, the offense moved quickly down the field before Elliot ran the ball in for a touchdown. Stevenson’s defense got them the ball back a few plays later, and Crawley connected on a pass to Zach Becker ’26 for another touchdown with just three minutes remaining in the quarter. However, Zion-Benton running back Jemere French ’27 scored a touchdown to make the score 20 to 7 at halftime.

Coming out of the locker room, Crawley ran for a touchdown in the third quarter and threw another one to Becker later in the quarter. He attributed the team’s strong mentality throughout the game as they all knew that a win would mean a playoff berth.

“It feels awesome to get our sixth win that gets us into the playoffs,” Crawley said. “It was a really electric night.”

With the Patriots up comfortably entering the fourth quarter, the coaching staff began gradually cycling out the starting players to get the backups playing time. Zion scored two more touchdowns during the fourth quarter, though backup quarterback Ryan Jacobson ’26 completed a deep downfield pass to set up a rushing touchdown by Daniel Lentz ’26, which effectively put the game away. 

“I’m just happy that all the guys that have worked hard this season and who haven’t really gotten the chance to play had the opportunity to play tonight,” Elliott said.