By Diego Sanchez, Evergreen Park School Network (EPSN) 

This year’s Evergreen Park Community High School Mustangs football team will not go down without a fight. 

The Mustangs faced an aggressive and tough Reavis Rams team this past Friday on the Rams’ home turf for their Homecoming game and came home with a thrilling 14-13 victory that was sealed by a Jacob Ruvalcaba sack on a Reavis 2-point conversion attempt.

“It felt pretty good, I called my own blitz so I was really trying to make a play,” Ruvalcaba said. 

The game was particularly special for the Mustang players who were on the team last season, when Reavis pulled out a 14-0 shutout win at the EPCHS 2025 Homecoming game. 

This past Friday marked the latest win in what has turned into a 2026 season filled with memorable moments and close finishes. The week prior, the Mustangs faced a Shepard team that had handedly defeated them both of the previous two seasons. Never a group to look back or consider themselves an underdog, the Mustangs went out and played the game their way, coming away with a 21-14 win over the Astros that was highlighted with an astonishing 85-yard play from sophomore wide receiver Jaylen Chothen that set up the game-winning touchdown. Chothen caught a pass that was tipped by a Shepard defender and ran it along the sideline to set up the winning score. Cory Isaac capitalized on Chothen’s big play with a 5-yard touchdown run. 

It was quite the statement victory, considering Shepard had outscored Evergreen Park by a combined score of 71-7 over the teams’ previous two meetings. The week before that, the Mustangs took a perennial state powerhouse Richards High School Bulldogs team to the final play of another thrilling finish. 

So, what did this Evergreen Park Mustang team do to improve so much this past year?

“I feel like this year we’ve been closer and connected on and off the field,” said junior team leader quarterback Brady Bruen. Bruen has held the reins for the starting quarterback position since the beginning of his sophomore year and continues to prove why that is game in and game out.

“I think this team is buying into what we’re trying to do,” Bruen said. 

Head Coach Jim Ramazinski added that the team is “super serious about winning.” 

“They understand the work that goes into being consistent,” he said.  

The Mustangs are now 4-1 heading into their own Homecoming game this Friday against rival Oak Lawn, already matching their win total from a season ago. Keeping the winning ways will be no easy task, however, as the Spartans are coming into the rivalry showdown with an unblemished 5-0 mark on the season. 

The match-up feels almost ideal for this resilient and young football team, and it's definitely going to be a showdown—maybe even another game that could come down to the wire like the previous three. 

It’s a Homecoming game that most, if not all, EPCHS students are excited to see. Without a doubt, that goes for the coaches and players as well. 

“We’re very excited for Friday night,” Ramazinski said. “It’s a rivalry game, so yes we’re very much looking forward to it.”

For Bruen, the Oak Lawn Homecoming game is one he’s been looking forward to this entire season. 

“Since the summer,” he said. “We need to go out there every play and battle until the echo of the whistle.” 

This game means a lot to everybody. The stakes are going to be high and the expectations are going to be even higher. 

So, mark your calendars, and be ready to come out strong and supportive this Friday night when the Spartans come to town. Game time is 6 p.m. Go Mustangs.