Bouncing back from a hard loss can be tough. Brighton High School’s junior varsity football team lost 21-28 to their cross-town rival, Howell High School, on Oct. 16, 2025. It’s easy to come together after a win, and even harder to come back after a loss, but Brighton did exactly that.
Despite their loss, the team’s sense of solidarity allowed them to stay strong and rebound. The team even managed to find positives within their defeat. Sophomore Ben Hansen gave sophomore Jake Schweizer a shoutout, highlighting one of the game’s stronger plays.
“We were on defense for a while, and it wasn’t looking too good, but Jake had this amazing 90-yard touchdown pass,” Schweizer said.
Captain and sophomore Jackson Buckley gave recognition to sophomore Maddox Marlatt for scoring on a fumble recovery.
“That was huge momentum for us the rest of the game,” Buckley said.
Leadership is half of any sport, especially when it comes to a tough game. However, it isn’t just coaches who spearhead this leadership but captains. Alongside leading the team through practices and games, captains serve as role models and inspiration for the rest of the team, helping boost morale and motivate their teammates.
“Our Captains are chosen by the team and coaches and are selected for their leadership skills both on and off the field,” JV head coach Brad Lilly said. “They represent the best and most likely person on the squad we would follow into battle and fight alongside them, trusting they have our team’s best interests at heart. They call the coin toss and discuss play with officials, and they encourage and coordinate coaches’ play calls to the rest of the team during games.”
The captains played a important role in engineering the JV team’s bounce-back, which began the moment the team stepped off the field. Coaches gave their speeches, and it was time to move on. Sophomore Tate Bowman said that the entire week leading up to their final game was in preparation for a good win, especially after their loss to Howell.
“Practices were intense,” Bowman said. “We would run perfect plays until we got 10 in a row.”
Buckley added onto that by sharing that even though pressure was high for their last game, the team also managed to find time to enjoy their last week together as a team.
“I think having some fun with it kind of made us do better because it wasn’t all business, but it was also our last week, so we had some fun,” Buckley said.
At the end of the day, losing a game is never a good feeling, but losing is often an essential component to winning. Brighton came back from a bad loss to their rival school and won their next game against Fordson High School 56-6, representing the comeback the team had worked toward.
