Kyler Hall gets a gatorade bath after a big win against Ribault.

LIVE OAK — There were high highs and frustrating lows.

The Suwannee High School football season could be broken up in three parts.

There was the 1-3 start to the season that was full of mistakes. Then the Bulldogs looked unstoppable for five games. Finally there was disappointment. Suwannee lost both quarters of the district tiebreaker to miss the playoffs.

The slow start was expected. Suwannee faced some of its toughest opponents at the beginning of the season with an exhibition against Madison County and games against Leon and Fort White — teams who have had the same coaching staff for many years.

“There was frustration. There was a lot of testing of character the first part of the season,” Suwannee coach Kyler Hall said. Looking at the long term and program building, you have to go through that type of fire to see if you got it or really want it.”

During their five-game winning streak, the Bulldogs limited turnovers and came together as a team. Hall thought the fourth game of that winning streak—a 38-22 victory over Ribault—was the team’s signature win for the season.

“The second half, they laid everything out there. That was a huge win for the program. Where the season started, to be able to win a game like that, that was fun. That’s the Friday night that you crave,” Hall said.

This season was about more than just football for Hall. The SHS graduate and former Florida State Seminole relished the time he spent with his team this season — about nine months beginning with weightlifting sessions in January.

“The best part of football and coaching is the relationships you build off the field,” Hall said. “There’s so many different backgrounds from kid to kid. You have to take all of those different things and bring them together. That’s the great thing about football.”

Disappointed with missing the playoffs, Hall is already working on getting better for next year.

Five days after the football season ended, a Wednesday, Hall couldn’t be found on campus at SHS. He wasn’t sick. He wasn’t taking a day off after a long season.

He had made the trek to Valdosta High School to see how one of the best high school programs in the country was practicing.

“That’s a national powerhouse,” Hall said. “I’m always looking for ways to learn and improve our program. Coaching is just stealing from other coaches. No one is reinventing the wheel. It’s taking bits and pieces of what you’ve taken and learned from other guys.”