The CHS 5th/6th grade football team’s undefeated streak came to an end on Thursday as the Panthers fell to Cathedral-Carmel 34-8 in the Christian League championship.

That’s a very physical football team,” said CHS head coach Michael Haik after the loss. “They had four men up front that we had answers for at times, but just not consistently. Number 59 played every snap in the eighth grade games, he’s a special kid.”

Cathedral started the game slowly as neither team was able to get the upper hand, but a mistimed toss by Catholic High gave the Tigers the lead to close out the first quarter.

Cathedral added another touchdown with three minutes left in the half before forcing a PAnther punt and scoring again in the final second of the game to enter the halftime break with a 20-0 lead.

The Panthers returned from the break to a hot start, scoring the first touchdown of the night to narrow the gap to 20-8. Unfortunately for the Panthers the defense was unable to stop the running game from Cathedral, allowing two additional touchdowns in the second half to finish the game 34-8.

Haik acknowledged his team’s smaller roster size, which led to the Panthers having to struggle to field a full team.

“(Cathedral) moved some of their big defensive tackles and defensive ends to the backfield on offense. We lost our right tackle and running back, so we tried to mix and match just to keep enough people on the field. We have 15 kids who start on offense and we’re down by about three, so we were trying to put a puzzle together just to get a lineup on the field.”

While the loss was hard to stomach for the players and coaches, Haik reflected on the success that his team had seen throughout the season.

“It was a great season. There’s only one team that’s going to win the last game,” he said. “We’re 8-1 and we beat some really good teams. When you’re a competitor, you can win eight but that one you lost will be the one you remember. We had a lot of kids grow up over the season. We trained hard, we practiced hard, and we took little kids that have never played football and grew them into young men.”

Haik said that the success the younger football programs are having is a good sign that the varsity team will continue to be refreshed with high-quality players.

“We have a special group of kids. If they can stay together, keep working hard and remember what tonight feels like, they’ll be playing for district championships for years to come,” Haik said.