They guys were on the road to Manhattan, as was the Spirit Bus, on Oct. 24 to play against the Indians.

To prepare for Manhattan, Hammes said “we’re not going to prepare any different than the others, but there’s a lot on the line and we must win.”

Senior Brock Hallman said they “need to have good practices and stay focused on our goals [to win the game against Manhattan].”

If the Junior Blues had won their next two games, it would be the first time in 10 years that the team has been to the playoffs.

“We’ve worked so hard to accomplish [going to the playoffs] since they started. It would be a great reward for the guys,” Hammes said.

“Getting to the playoffs means everything. It’s been the ultimate goal since the beginning,” senior Andrew Edwards said.

The team lost to the Manhattan Indians 31-9 Friday night which finishes district for them and puts the hopes of making it to the playoffs at an end.

The team barely lost to the undefeated Junction City Blue Jays on Oct. 17. The final score was 28-27 in double overtime in a Class 6A district opener.

“We played hard and together the whole night, we did a really good job against a really good team,” head coach Derick Hammes said.

Hammes’ decision to go for two yards after Edwards scored on a 5-yard run tied the game and put the Junior Blues into the first overtime.

The second overtime happened because of a Junction City 9-yard touchdown pass after the Junior Blues took a 21-14 lead on Edward’s 4-yard touchdown run.

“It was a really good game, our defense was good and our linemen blocked well, overall the team played really well,” Edwards said.

The next and last game of the season is tonight against Topeka High at Hummer Sports Park at 7 p.m.