As the clock struck zero in California's 49-14 loss to Oak Grove in a Class 3 state semifinal on Friday night, Pintos head coach Marty Albertson spoke to his seniors on the field one last time.
"I told them, "It feels bad right now, but when you look back, you'll realize you had a heck of a year,'" Albertson said. "They don't like to hear that because (the loss) hurts right now. The last three years ended the same way. It hurts when you're that close to the Dome."
Despite all their accomplishments this season, including a 13-1 record, Tri-County Conference title and District 6 title, many of the California players cried and hugged one another after Friday's loss. For the Pintos' 14 seniors, it was a tough moment to swallow.
"I can say it all went against us, but at the end of the day, it was going to take heart," senior Walker Borghardt said. "It's not demoralizing because my season ended with the best group of guys. There's no way to put into words all the love I have for these guys.
"We have nothing to hang our heads about. We won 38 games the past three years. There's nothing to be ashamed about. Nothing is harder than getting this close and losing, but at the same time, there are 60 other teams that aren't here."
This year's senior class will not be forgotten anytime soon, setting the bar extremely high for future teams.
"If someone told me back in June that we'd be 13-0 going into the semifinals, I would have been really happy with that," Albertson said. "I thought we'd be good, but not that good. These kids had a tremendous year.
"The last three years, each senior class put the pride back in the Pinto. Once you get that, it's easier for those young kids to work hard because they want to do what the classes before them did. I think the returning guys will work hard. I really do."
Along with Borghardt, the Pintos lose seniors Allan Burger, Jaden Barr, Drew Norton, Dylan Norton, Ramiro Garcia, Gavin Pickering, Nathan Squires, Sam Clenin, Garrett Imhoff, Matt Oerly, Zach Cummings, Alex Dalbey and Kade McAdams.
"We looked at this senior group as our leaders and knew that if we followed them, we'd go a long way," said Pintos junior Landon Mouse. "It stinks that we came up short, but we can always look forward to next year. We have a bunch of sophomores that can step up. We have big shoes to fill, but I think we can do it."
Although it was Burger's final high school season, he plans to follow the Pintos for years to come.
"Hopefully, future players look at this season, get hungry and want to beat this team," he said. "As long as they get in the weight room and work hard, there's no telling what they can do."
Certainly, the 2015 Pintos will have St. Louis and a trip to the Class 3 state final on their mind when their off-season training program begins.