As I walked off the West Marion football field Friday night with Managing Editor Mark Rogers and head coach Brad Duncan, I had some conflicting feelings that donned on me.
While East Marion and Columbia Academy were both on the road in their respective playoff games, we had people there giving us score updates so I was aware to the fact that all three of the remaining Marion County football teams had been eliminated from the playoffs.
Which in turn meant that Friday was the final time I would be covering high school football this season. It was and always is bittersweet.
I have loved football since I was a little kid and while my playing days are in the distant past, I look forward to the high school season throughout the summer. Being around the game as much as I am covering the four teams in the county is a blessing for me. I love the atmosphere, the highs and lows of winning and losing and watching teenagers overcome adversity on the gridiron.
I’m not from this area and have no personal connection to any of the schools — which is a great thing for me as a reporter because it allows me to be completely unbiased — but when you’re around the coaches and players as much as I am you become invested in what they do every week.
So naturally, I want all of the teams to win and go deep into the playoffs. The timeline of East Marion, West Marion and Columbia Academy’s playoff runs varied this season. The Eagles were playing in the first round Friday night, while the Trojans were in the second round and the Cougars were in the semifinals. But they all finished their seasons on the same night and there’s a lot of football left to be played for the remaining teams, so it doesn’t feel like West Marion and Columbia Academy went deep into the playoffs, though they actually did.
When it comes to those relationships I have built, it saddens me that their seasons have come to an end.
However, there is a silver lining for me. This year, I hosted the Coaches Show on WCJU beginning at 6 a.m., so every Friday until the playoffs I was waking up at 4:30 and typically getting home from whichever game I covered between 10 p.m. and midnight, depending on where the game was. That grind every week is exhausting, and it took a toll on me.
In that respect, I’m excited that my Fridays will be a lot less hectic and tiring going forward. But honestly, I’d rather be covering more playoff games and ultimately a state title game.
All in all, though, we at The Columbian-Progress enjoyed another great football season, wish all the departing players and coaches luck in their next ventures and look forward to the 2018 season.
