First of all, I congratulate Trinity on their win. They were the better football machine tonight and it is obvious why they have been described as one of the strongest teams in the country.
As an SK alumni, I just want to say that I am proud of the players and coaches who make up this TEAM. It was a thrill to many of us to watch this playoff ride that carried the team to the final game of the season. I left the stadium tonight feeling that our football program has so much class. The team represented Simon Kenton and all of Northern Kentucky with their best. They displayed as much dignity in this loss tonight as they did in the playoff games that carried them to this final game. If there wasn’t a scoreboard in the stadium, one would have had trouble guessing which team had won the game when the final horn sounded as players congratulated each other with hugs, smiles and flying hip checks.
Craig Schadler walked over to the sideline with just a few minutes to go and started waving to the huge Pioneer crowd. The response that he got from those in Pioneer Nation was awesome. Tonight, Pioneer Nation was made up of Independence residents, alumni, students, parents, teachers and friends. You were out in full force and did yourself proud. The crowd’s response to Craig was one where I think everyone was just saying thanks. The score was 48-0 but the ovation was astounding. I was proud to be on the side of the field wearing blue.
As good as I felt for the football program and SK community tonight, I have to say that I brought back a bitter taste in my mouth from the Pizza Box. I could care less what the score of the game ended up being. The fact that a young man playing a high school sport was carried off on a stretcher and left the complex in an ambulance left a pit in my stomach. Chad Lawrence received a blow to the head that injured his head and neck. He was still undergoing tests when I left the stadium but I understand that he did have movement in his extremities. I was standing right in front of the play when he was hit. It was chilling.
As Chad was being loaded into the ambulance, the actions that came from the Trinity side of the field can be described as nothing less than disgusting. I could not believe what I heard the crowd chanting. It is one thing to cheer your team and want to win, but another to lower yourself to a level of being pathetic.
I will have more posts about the playoff run in the next few days. In the meantime, I just can’t find enough of the right words to say Congratulations to an appropriate level. I will just say SK Football Team, you were the Class of the Commonwealth in 2008.
The Class...
WOW!!!!!!! If you weren't there, where were you?
