Passion, pride made Patriots winners (10/31/05)

It may not have been how they wanted it to end.

But Friday night’s convincing defeat at Delta won’t be all we remember about the 2005 Jay County High School varsity football team.

The Patriots played hard and played well this fall as they put together the best regular season record for the school since 1986.

And in so doing, they not only brought pride to themselves and their community, they may have laid a building block for the future.

For a program that had won more games than it lost just one time in the past 15 regular seasons, a 7-4 record that included a stretch of six wins in seven games is impressive. But even more impressive was the enthusiasm, the excitement and the pride with which the Patriots played.

Football is a sport which demands not only skill, but passion. And in the games we saw this fall — including the final three — it was obvious that for this group of players, the passion was back.

The success of this season is not only a point of pride for the current team, but also a challenge for those who will put on the Patriot red, white and blue in the future — a challenge to work hard to uphold what could be a new tradition of success.

JCHS coach Shane Hill alluded to that challenge after Friday night’s game.

“I’m thrilled to death with these guys, and it’s not just what the fans saw from August until now. It’s what they did in December and January, February, the off the field stuff that nobody ever sees, the hard work in the weight room ...,” Hill said.

“I’m just thrilled to death with the direction our program is going as a whole.”

Whether Hill and the community will be just as thrilled this time next year is up to those who will don the Patriot uniform next fall.

We admit that playing competitively on the football field shouldn’t be the primary goal for high school students. Striving to be a good student and a good citizen rank higher.

But to all of those who chose to play sports or participate in other extra-curricular activities, we say there’s time — if you make it — to become the best student, the best person, and the best athlete you can be.

This year’s football team is a good example.

And for that the Patriots, despite the fact they’re not champions, are winners by any measure that matters — M.S.[[In-content Ad]]