For Mike Genge’s Oakville Tigers football team, 2024 will go down as a season of missed opportunities.

The Tigers lost to Seckman, 34-7, in the second round of the Class 6 District playoffs, ending the season at 5-6.

“Our season didn’t go the way we had hoped it would,” Genge said. “Losing a couple of close games early was tough, dealing with a large amount of sickness and key injuries in the middle brought about unexpected challenges. We had hoped to take a step up and in many ways we did, but unfortunately we left some success out there that we felt we should have had going into the season.”

At one point in the season, the Tigers had between 14 and 18 players out at one time, including five key starters for one game.

The Tigers will lose 18 seniors, players who had big impacts on the team on both offense and defense.

Running back Edin Mulalic will be one of the seniors graduating. Mulalic led the Tigers with 11 touchdowns, rushing for over 1,000 yards on the season.

Also departing will be the Tigers leading pass catcher Josh Williams. Williams had 34 catches for 760 yards and eight touchdowns.

“We are losing 18 seniors, many of which are key parts of both sides of the ball,” Genge said. “Our plans will be to work to fill those spots, get guys working hard to step up into those roles.”

The departing group of seniors has been known as the “25 mafia” since the group was in sixth grade.

Genge said the group transformed the Oakville football program.

“They have changed the culture of the school, our team and our community,” he said. “Their leadership, willingness to be coached and unselfishness is second to none. They will be truly missed as a collective group but have set this program up for success for years to come.”

One of the issues the Tigers will face in the offseason is getting into the weight room. With big numbers, plus the wres-tling program athletes, splitting time can be a tough task.

“It is tough here with limited weight room space to get everyone into the weight room together,” Genge said. “We have to get very creative with our time, so hopefully we can continue to find the dedication from our players and parents in getting kids to the weight room either morning and afternoon.”

One of the bright spots for Oakville this season was the play of junior quarterback Max Bradley. Bradley had a breakout year as the Tigers signal caller. He threw for over 1,800 yards and tossed 14 touch-downs to just seven interceptions.

“In his second year as a starter, I truly felt he did a tremendous job,” Genge said of his quarterback.

The Tigers coach also complimented his offensive line, which was made up of mostly younger players.

“It’s a young group that got better and better all year, which is attributed to their hard work and our (offensive line) coach-es,” Genge said.

Genge also commended the play of his two junior defensive players, outside linebacker/defensive ends Jonathan Ysaguirre and Gavyn Anderson. Anderson led the team with 94 tackles, and Ysaguirre had 73 tackles.

“Both had tremendous years for us,” Genge said.

Linebackers Ben Kohm and DeShawn Treadwell were solid all season for the Tigers. The seniors combined for 158 tackles.

One of the highlights of the season for Oakville was winning its homecoming game. Oakville defeated Mehlville 35-27 in the contest.

“Winning homecoming is always a highlight for our team,” Genge said. “For many years, that didn’t happen.”

Genge also added that making it to week 11 of the season for the third consecutive year was a positive for his squad. He summed up his squad’s season in three words: adversity, grit and rewarding.