Pirate Football Season Ends With Loss To Cobras

By Kevin Yoder

One of the cruel realities of sports is that every season ends with a loss, with the exception of the state champion. Knowing this however, doesn’t make that final whistle any less painful.

The Hudson Pirates faced this reality last Friday night, as the Sigourney Keota Cobras came to Hudson, and then left town with a 31-7 victory.

The game started with Hudson in possession, and the Pirates put together some positive plays and moved the chains. Unfortunately that drive ended abruptly with an interception, and gave SK a short field. Their unconventional spin back offense went to work, and ultimately finished with the first touchdown of the night.

Following an exchange of punts, the Pirate offense looked for a spark. On the first play of the ensuing drive that spark burst into flame, as Owen Bell took a pitch from quarterback Tade Roberts, outflanked the Cobra defense to the near sideline, and sprinted 74 yards to paydirt to even the score at 7 apiece.

The momentum of that play was short-lived however, as the kickoff that followed was returned deep into Pirate territory. One play later Sigourney Keota punched their second touchdown across the goal line. They tacked on a field goal in the second quarter to leave Hudson with a ten point halftime deficit.

The Cobras won the toss, so Hudson kicked off to begin the second half. SK’s next drive was a back-breaker for the Pirates. It chewed up 95 yards and the first ten minutes of the third quarter, resulting in another touchdown. The Pirate offense was never able to gain any footing throughout the second half, and one final rushing touchdown from the Cobras set the final score at 31-7.

While the final game left Hudson with feelings of disappointment and sadness, head coach Justin Brekke tried to put the season as a whole in perspective.

“When I reflect on this season I think of all the sacrifices made by our players and coaches,” he began. “We had multiple players playing through injuries. Our coaches are working full time jobs or attending college full-time, have their own families, and still made this team a priority. Everyone made this sacrifice to keep our season rolling as long as we could.”

“These last two seasons of district play have been refreshing and very rewarding. Playing playoff football on our home field is something we will never take for granted.”

The Pirates finish the 2026 season with a 5-4 overall record.