Grosse Pointe South’s varsity football team ended its season with an overall 9-2 record. The team was ranked No. 13 in their state division and made it to the second round of the playoffs before losing to Lakeview for the second time. Head coach Chad Hepner believes that this past season was excellent and had many great accomplishments.
“We won a lot of football games and of course we beat our rival, Grosse Pointe North,” Hepner said. “There was a lot of good stuff in there, but it ended sooner than we wanted.”
The team was hoping to make it further into the playoffs but took a hard 24-7 loss on Nov. 8 against Lakeview. There were some setbacks throughout the season, such as injuries and having a smaller roster than in years before, but the team managed to keep overcoming those difficulties.
“It is a grind, it’s a long season, it’s a physical game,” Hepner said. “You know, just trying to remind them that this is an opportunity that only comes around a few times and they need to make the most of it.”
Captain of the team Sam Rouleau ’27 has been playing on varsity since his freshman year and knows the hard work needed to be dedicated towards the team in order for a great season, especially as a captain.
“One of the main responsibilities I feel is important as a captain is making sure everyone is focused throughout the entire year,” Rouleau said. “It’s a long year, you’re hot in summer and then you have to play when it starts getting cold out and people start to lose focus.”
A great accomplishment of the team was their victory against Romeo. The team beat them in the second week and started their season off to a good start.
“We beat them the year before but we were a really young team this year,” Rouleau said. “They ended up being a really good team and they’re a MAC (Macomb Athletic Conference) Red opponent, so it was a great win for us.”
For some, it was their last football season of their high school career. Senior captain AJ Zieleniewski ’26 concluded his football season and came to realize that the games don’t last forever.
“The practices are intense, but the games are a lot of fun,” Zieleniewski said. “So, just being together with the team is a lot of fun.”
Zieleniewski had an outstanding season and even broke one of South’s school records.
“I didn’t know it at the time, but I broke the school sack record,” Zieleniewski said. “When they told me it was really cool.”
