The Brookfield Bobcats ended their season Tuesday afternoon as one of the top four teams in the nation after falling to the Merritt Island Mustangs 31-8.

"On August 1, our goal was to get to the Western Connecticut Pop Warner Championship," coach Bobby Drysdale said to his team following the game. "You guys obviously exceeded it."

During their first half facing the Mustangs, the Bobcats had three fumbles, several out-of-position defensive players and a few penalties that aided the Mustangs in their victory.

Down 31 points at halftime and with emotions running high, Drysdale told his team that they were losing the mental game, not the physical game of football, and urged his players to go out, have a fun second half and treat it as something they had earned by working so hard to get there.

Apparently taking the advice to heart, the team retook the field in the second half and played solid football, stripping the ball from Merritt Island several times and, at one point, returning a fumble 40 yards for an eventual touch down.

"If they'd gone out there and played like that for the first half, we'd have won the game," noted Kristin Joshi, mother of team member Devan.

Coach Drysdale was pleased with the rallying effort that his team showed in the second half, but said that the specific restrictions of Pop Warner football make it hard to stage a comeback in the second half after falling behind.

"We've said it all year, Pop Warner games are too fast to make up that time," Drysdale said. "But you guys showed in the second half that you didn't quit."

Nonetheless, Drysdale told his team that he was very happy with an 11-3 season that included taking the Western Connecticut, State and New England championships.

On top of those accomplishments, the Bobcats are headed home with a victory at the Pop Warner Superbowl with a win this past Saturday against the Campbell Bears of California 22-16.