The drought is over. The Plain-field Central football team is headed back to the playoffs for the first time since 2012. Coming into the year, breaking this drought was a shared goal amongst coaches and players, and the team is proud to be the ones that did it. “If you asked anyone in the last 5 years if we’d be where we are right now there’s no chance they’d say yes,” senior Ethan Obeng said. “We’re excited to see how far we can go after the weird year we had last year,” junior Phillip Carlton said. In his first year as head coach, Robert Keane helped in leading his team to the playoffs by keeping his team focused on the current task ahead of them. “Our focus was always to live in the moment and to accomplish the current task,” Keane said. “As we continued, it felt good and we knew we had to continue to take on the next task.” “We believed in ourselves since we started back in June and the players have continued to help each other meet their high expectations,” Keane said. No season comes without some form of difficulty, but the Wildcats were able to overcome what was thrown their way. “Losing to West Aurora helped us get more focused and come together as a team,” senior Brendan Prah said. “The biggest breakthrough for us has been accepting that we can go as far as we allow our-selves to be successful,” Keane said. Along the road for the Wildcats many special moments have taken place. One of these is no doubt the win over Minooka. “Before the play coach told me the play, and I knew it was going to work,” Moscatelli said. “When the ball was in the air I just caught it and afterwards it was the most relieving feeling in the world”. After Moscatelli’s touchdown the Wildcats still needed the extra point to take the lead and senior Brendan Prah delivered, securing the Wildcat’s 37-36 win. “Going out there I was calm because I knew I was prepared,” Prah said. “After it went in it felt awesome because all the hard work paid off, and it was nice celebrating with the team and school.” Trust has been one key component for the Wildcats’ success and this has been primarily seen on the defensive side of the ball. “Playing together and every-one doing their job” has been the key according to Obeng. “We based our defense on doing your own job and trusting the rest of your teammates to do their job,” Carlton said. The first playoff game in nine years is tonight. They will look to keep their season alive as they take on Yorkville at home at 7 p.m.