Indian River's midseason turnaround with Brennan Loose | DE Gameday

After Indian River football suffered its third straight loss to start the season, players gathered outside of practice."Are we going to keep letting this happen?" said senior Brennan Loose, recalling the message of the meetings. "Almost like give up the season? We've got to turn it around."Since then, the Indians have won four straight games, thrusting themselves back into playoff contention in Class 2A."I think we've done a great job of turning it around," Loose said. "We started playing for each other and I think it's paid off these past four weeks, and you've seen it on the scoreboard."Indian River had lost a combined two games over the previous two seasons as it won the Class 1A title in 2024 and finished runner-up in Class 2A in 2025. After losses to Odessa and Milford and reigning Class 1A champion Seaford, Loose said the team had conversations about how to form its own identity."We don't have those guys like Darnell [Stokes] or Davon [Handy] anymore who can break a play for 80 yards, but we have guys who can do other stuff," Loose said. "We can run the ball down their throat the whole game for five yards a play. If that's how we gotta play, that's how we gotta play. It was more that conversation that we have to step into our role of how we can play the game and not ride the backs of the players we've had in the past."Loose joined Brandon Holveck on the latest episode of DE Gameday, Delaware Online/The News Journal's weekly high school sports show, to discuss his team's turnaround, his expanded role as Indian River's top rusher and his goals for the rest of the season.The senior running back and safety ran for 361 yards and five touchdowns in 39 attempts in Indian River's 54-38 win over Woodbridge on Oct. 23. The previous week, he threw for two touchdowns out of Indian River's wildcat look while rushing for two more. For the season, he has 864 rushing yards, 11 rushing TDs and 52 tackles, all tops on IR.Loose gave credit to the Indians' offensive line, notably seniors Nolan Staniszewski and Trigg Fulkrod and junior Max Williamson."I could go on about my guys," Loose said.Catch the full episode in the video player at the top of this story. Clips from the episode will be featured on Instagram @degameday.Brandon Holveck reports on high school sports for The News Journal. Contact him at bholveck@delawareonline.com.This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Indian River's midseason turnaround with Brennan Loose | DE Gameday