The score now stands 25-28. The score board declares in fluorescent orange that the game has one minute and six seconds left. The crowd sits on the edge of their seats as quarterback Keanu Forbes (12) darts forward, ball in hand, and dives into the end zone. The game-winning touchdown.

The varsity football team won its third game of the season 31-28 against California School for the Deaf yesterday night.

In the first quarter, Harker was down 21 to nothing. By halftime, the Eagles made three touchdowns in a row, bringing the score to 22-21.

“Previously during the year we’ve had some games in that same situation,” Head Coach Ron Forbes said. “In that situation, they sort of lost their confidence, and the other team ran away with it. Tonight I was really, really proud of them. They hung in there, and we had a one-point lead going into halftime. That gave them the confidence they needed to come out during the second half and just put it away. It was awesome.”

Players noted that the team’s performance seemed stronger than in previous games.

“The team that we played came into the game ranked almost 300 spots higher than us, and we upset them.” Sidhart Krishnamurthi (12) said. “I think, as a whole, our whole line played better. Our receivers played better, ran better, caught more balls. Our defense definitely was amazing because, if you think about it, they only got two true touchdowns against us. Overall, we just played better.”

The difficulty of the victory made the win more significant to the team.

“Tonight was a little more fun [than Homecoming]. It was closer of a game, and it challenged us a little more,” Logan Drazovich (11) said. “It was definitely a big turning point for us.”

As Coach Forbes said, “This is a really, really young team, and they grew up a lot today.”

The team’s next game will be next Friday at home against Emery.