After an impressive 4-0 start, the Manitou Springs football team suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of the defending State Champion Florence Huskies by a score of 27-0.

In Friday’s loss against Florence, the Mustangs had the ball in the red zone four times and failed to score.

Botched snaps and penalties put the Mustang offense in reverse and halted any successful drive they had.

Assistant coach Rob Quarry said, “We shot ourselves in the foot with bad penalties and mental mistakes. That really set us back.”

“Like coach said… we have to take this season game by game… last week is behind us and we cannot dwell on it,” said Senior Captain KC Quarry.

Despite all the mistakes, the team is looking to put the Florence loss behind them and focus on the Homecoming game this Friday against Dolores Huerta.

The coaching staff doesn’t plan to make any major changes to their game plan or strategy for Homecoming or the rest of the season.

“We are just going back to the basics… it’s just about winning the next game and getting better,” said head coach Dan Gieck.

KC Quarry emphasized that point saying, “We don’t need personnel changes, necessarily, but intensity changes.”

The Mustangs hope that a Homecoming victory will put them back on the winning track.

By Drew Faloon