Indians dared to be different

CHAMPAIGN -- I am sure the sting of another state-title game setback will stick with Lemont High School's football players and coaches for a period of time.

At some point after the tears finally have been wiped away, I am equally confident that sting will give way to a more appropriate feeling of self-satisfaction and one of great accomplishment. True, Lemont dropped a 37-15 decision to Springfield Sacred-Heart Griffin in a 6A matchup on Saturday afternoon at the University of Illinois' Memorial Stadium.

The Indians turned the ball over three times on interceptions. They were limited to 242 yards total offense. And they missed more tackles than they ever could remember missing before, so naturally they were dealing with an emotional angst in the whirlwind after the horn sounded, after the trophies and medallions were presented and after team portraits were created in a rapid-fire of succession of digital photography.

"It's disappointing," Lemont coach Eric Michaelsen said. "I'd be lying if I said it wasn't. But the disappointing part of it is in the final game we made more mistakes than we have -- we missed some tackles. We didn't execute offensively as well as we have. That's the disappointment.

"But none of that was due to anything with the kids. The kids gave the effort. And in my mind they're champs. For them to put in the effort to get back here was quite an accomplishment for this group."

Lemont returned to Cook County lugging its second straight second-place trophy, a big prize, but not the one they aimed for and not the one that remained within reach as late as the fourth quarter. The Indians pulled within 23-15 on Nick Lawrence's 9-yard touchdown run with 9 minutes 10 seconds left. Suddenly, there were one big play away from drawing into a stalemate with a more gifted opponent.

Sacred Heart-Griffin was the team that looked like it was playing a half-step quicker than Lemont almost from the get-go, the team with the slippery quarterback and the spread-offense passing attack. There were times when you couldn't help but wonder how Tom Dondanville escaped from the Indians' rush and kept the Cyclones on track. Yet, he made like Houdini in combining for 220 yards rushing and passing. He threw two touchdown passes, one that Dominic Walton turned into a 72-yard scoring play and another that covered 8 yards and allowed good-hands man John Lantz the privilege of insuring a Springfield celebration.

Up to that juncture, Lemont somehow was hanging right in there, trying to buck the odds in the year after it produced a bumper Division I recruiting crop. Graham Pocic (tackle, Illinois), Bobby Earnest (running back, Eastern Illinois) and Gordon Kickels (linebacker, Eastern Illinois) departed after leading Lemont to a second-place finish in 6A in 2007. Nobody expected the Indians to return for an encore performance.

Theirs was an uplifting story, one that captures the essence of what high school sports is all about. They went to work in the offseason with a goal to become bigger and stronger and faster. They reeled off nine straight victories in the regular season and won the South Suburban Blue title with a 5-0 mark. And, before they finally were pinched awake out of what was a fairy-tale like dream, they had stretched their win streak to a lucky 13.

My guess is they will treasure the memories. Many of those involved will stay in touch forever, their friendship cemented by a shared experience. Others will go their own way. When they do return to Lemont years from now, I expect they will reunite and recall stories of the Indians' glory days. I expect almost all of them will find success in their next life, the one that comes after football.

I am convinced they will point to football as one of the instruments that helped point them on the right path. The game has taught them principles of dedication and discipline that can be applied universally in the real world. The game has taught them that no one player is more important than the team, that working together as one their whole was greater than the sum of their individual parts.

Michaelsen deserves credit for taking Lemont from one-year wonder status to the level of perennial contender. He has built a program in his seven seasons as the Indians' head coach that can stand the test of time, his teams reaching the playoffs five years in a row and compiling a record of 59-21 since 2002. His players are a direct reflection of him -- proud to be from Lemont, the little town that sits high atop a hill in the suburban Chicagoland sprawl, but no longer is engulfed by the enormity of its surroundings, at least not when it comes to high school football.

"We talked to the kids at the beginning of the season," Michaelsen said. "We said the season is like a book. Every week is like a chapter in that book. I still think it's going to be a pretty good book to look back on and, hopefully, these kids pretty soon will realize what they've done and have a lot of pride for what they've done for Lemont football."

The question of how long the sting lasts is one that comes with no set answer.

"Some of the kids will be OK on the ride home," Michaelsen said. "They're pretty resilient. And some of the kids still will be disappointed when they come back and see me in three or four years, when they're in college."

The reason for the weight of that hurt should not be overlooked. The reason some of Lemont's players and coaches will feel a sting is because they dared to be different, dared to be great. And that's what football and high school sports are all about, the young boy who challenges himself to grow up and become a man, who is overcome by the power of belief. You have to get in the game. And, once in a while, you have to get knocked down.

The real winners are those who stand up to the questions afterward in a show sportsmanship, those who eventually come to grips with the notion second place is worth shouting about.