As they spent the offseason preparing for their final year on the high school football field this fall, the seniors on the Bishop McNamara football team were on the precipice of school history.

But not a history they wanted to be associated with.

After they began high school in the wake of the retirement of five-time state champion coach Rich Zinanni, the Class of 2026 saw the varsity team go 3-6 their freshmen year.

As the class’s core moved up to varsity as sophomores, they suffered the first of back-to-back 4-5 seasons. They were in danger of becoming the first class to graduate at McNamara without seeing the playoffs at least once.

Not only did the Fightin’ Irish snap that program-long three-year playoff drought this year, but they even rewrote record books on their way back. The

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