Bradford High School’s historic season came to an abrupt end Saturday night.

The Red Devils saw a 28-14 lead slip away in the second half as unbeaten Milwaukee Marquette rallied for a 35-28 victory in a WIAA Division-1 quarterfinal before more than 6,000 fans at Indian Trail Stadium.

The Kenosha community turned out in force, filling the stadium well before kickoff and flowing around the fence line four fans deep. Cars were still filing into the stadium’s limited parking area well into the second quarter. The Marquette faithful joined in the fun, tailgating and filling the hills on the road side of the stadium.

It wasn’t until Gino DeBartolo’s final pass sailed over the head of Melvin Gordon in the end zone and the final seconds ticked away that the air was let out of the Bradford’s faithful balloon. The first undefeated conference championship campaign since 1959 would fall short of Bradford’s ultimate goal — a state championship.

The Red Devils finished 11-1.

“It was an incredible season,” Bradford Principal Sue Savaglio-Jarvis said. “The determination, the Bradford love, the Bradford spirit. ... You can’t say enough about the community and the support.

“It was a hard loss, but they played with their hearts.”

The much-anticipated matchup brought a slew of recent and not-so recent Bradford alumni to the stadium. With the University of Wisconsin on the road, redshirt freshman receiver T.J. Williams, a 2007 alum, made the trek south.

“It was a great game. It was exciting to watch,” Williams said. “That’s the reason I came back this weekend, just to see this.”

Despite the disappointing loss, some of the fans leaving the stadium were anticipating the future possibilities for the Red Devils. The majority of the starters, including DeBartolo and Gordon, will return.

“We’ll be stronger next year,” said Frank Hagopian, who has a pair of sons on the squad. “The (sophomore) team also went undefeated. We’re going to be even more loaded with more weapons.”

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