Following a historical 7-3 record last year, Evanston Football’s 3-6 season was bitter sweet. The Kits were, in general, an inexperienced team at the varsity level, but they hope the challenges the sophomores and juniors faced this year will help future teams be more successful.

“It was a tough season in terms of wins and losses, but I saw a lot of growth from our kids, and at the end of the day that’s what you want to see, you want to see kids grow from boys to men,” head coach Mike Burzawa said.

While the record reflects what most would label a disappointing season, the Kits want this season to be a learning experience for sophomores and juniors who will return next year.

“[The adversity] definitely teaches a lot of lessons. Last season as a sophomore, we had a really successful season, and sure we had a couple games of adversity, but this season was a lot different,” junior captain Connor Groff explained. “It was a different kind of season than I’ve ever played before, and I think for a lot of other guys it was too; it definitely taught us a lot of lessons.”

Groff, along with fellow junior captain Zach Myers, started on both offense and defense the last two seasons. After this year’s subpar record, they hope the adversity will make the Kits hungrier for success.