He may have been a rookie coach in his first year, but Pleasantville Trojans’ head guy, Gabe Bakker had his sights set on turning things around after 2011’s 2 – 7 season. The Trojans opened up the season on the road against Eddyville-Blakesburg, and sure, Bakker and his Pleasantville team wanted to win, but he also had a different goal in mind for his and their first game. “Going into that game, I wanted to see our kids go out and play hard,” Bakker stressed. “I wanted them to fly around, and have fun. It was one thing that hadn’t always happened in the past, was going out flying around, making plays, and being in the game in the end.” And they absolutely hung tough until the final whistle. Having a 15 – 14 lead going into the fourth quarter, Bakker also told KNIA/KRLS Sports that he told his guys going into those final 12 minutes, that if they believed in what he’s doing for the team and they believed in each other, that they could be in this game to the end. The Trojans had some bad breaks go against them in that fourth quarter to make the final score, 36 – 15 in favor of the Rockets, seem more like a blowout than the good game it was. The Trojans would hang tough and finish the season with three straight wins to finish in fifth place.