Here’s a quote from a player who had just seen his season, his high school football career, come to an end Saturday:
“It’s been an amazing journey. I’m going to remember it for the rest of my life. It’s been special to play in front of these fans. The last four years have been amazing.”
I will reveal the player’s identity in a bit, but what’s really important here is this could be a player from any team.
High school football, or any sport, is not about winning state championships. It’s about winning experiences. This player might be disappointed his season is over, but he has no regrets about playing the game, for him, for his teammates, for his school, for the fans.
That is worthy of celebrating.
Back in August, long before the first practice of football season, some of us at The Columbian tried our hand at predicting every game on the schedule. Back then, my thinking went something like this:
Columbia River was good, but we would not really know how good until November. Columbia River was going to win its league in its sleep. Six of the team’s nine games were going to be non-league tune-ups, a chance to try to find things that work.
Well, it is November, and Columbia River is good. The Chieftains are among the elite eight in Class 3A.
Back in August, I will acknowledge I did not think much of Hockinson. Oh, I thought it was possible, likely even, that the Hawks could compete for a 2A Greater St. Helens League title. That’s never been the problem for Clark County teams in the 2A GSHL.
Winning a Week 10 district playoff has been the problem. A 2A GSHL football team not named Mark Morris or R.A. Long had not won a Week 10 playoff game since 2005, and that was back when it was the Trico League and R.A. Long and Mark Morris were 3A teams.
So, yeah, I did not give much thought to the Hawks making a serious playoff run because 2A teams from Clark County do not make serious playoff runs.
Until now.
The Hawks are 11-0, an elite eight team in Class 2A football.
Back in August, we thought Union had a shot at doing something special. We expected Camas to be strong, too. And Skyview would be in the mix.
It took a couple weeks into the season before we flip-flopped our opinion. Camas was the best of the bunch, Union was still strong, and Skyview would contend, too.
All that happened, but we never would have figured all three teams would be done after Week 11. At least one of the Big Three had reached the state quarterfinals every year since 2008.
Which is to say predictions and outlooks are fun, but other than that, pointless. Not too many people had Bellarmine Prep beating Camas. But it happened.
And while it would be great for Southwest Washington if Columbia River and Hockinson both win on Saturday, we also know that the football season can be over for our region in a snap.
As Union coach Gary McGarvie said last week, of all the teams that make the playoffs, only one leaves the field happy.
Still, every team can leave with the feeling of accomplishment. Win or lose, they can have pride.
That quote that started this column?
It came from Camas running back Cole Zarcone.
The journey matters.
The experience matters.
Only one team in each classification can win it all.
For most athletes, reality is a loss in the final game.
How they deal with that loss matters.
Cole Zarcone — and many, many others like him — understand this.
