After a rough start to the season for Hollis Brookline and first-year coach Rich Bergskaug, the Cavaliers broke into the “W” column last Saturday with a 35-0 win over Kearsarge. The team, who had been struggling in the previous weeks with turnovers, went the first five games of the season without a victory before they were finally able to eliminate their mistakes, along with the zero in their record.

After their struggles in the first half of the season and doubts from outsiders beginning to form, the players admitted that changes needed to be made within their mindset. They began with their practices the week before the game, and realized that they had to focus more on the task at hand. Junior Matt Ferenczhalmy, who led the team with three touchdowns in the game, said, “It was great. We practiced with more intensity and we eliminated the mistakes that held us back in past weeks.” Senior captain Nick Garside, who also caught a touchdown pass in the victory, had similar feelings as Ferenczhalmy, he said “I think the team really took last week’s practices seriously and that resulted in us coming out with our heads on fire, wanting a win. It felt awesome to have the scoreboard finally reflect the team’s true abilities.”

The team fell short in their last home game of the season, losing 29-14 against Windham, but have two more chances against Con-Val and Souhegan to prove their skills to the rest of the New Hampshire sports community.