Processing the end to a great football season

Bracey Breneman, Aiden Giles, Eli Poe, Logan Webb, Kaulin Padgett, Gabe Eslinger and Hunter Gennicks pose for a photo during Linton's win over Tell City.

Depending on what team you cheer for their season will end one of three ways. A celebration of a championship, a tough loss or the relief of a losing season finally coming to a conclusion. When a fanbase is relieved that a year is over, it is easy to move on. As an Indiana Pacer fan, I know what that’s like.

When a season ends with the disdain of a frustrating loss, that’s when it is tricky. Linton football is in that spot after a 28-27 defeat to Evansville Mater Dei.

A week later, I still do not really have the words to sum up Linton’s 2021 football season. I’ll give it a try anyway.

I do know that losing to the same team in the postseason four straight years can make anyone go insane. Mater Dei has done that since 2018. The week leading up to the game the television stations aired stories of how Linton was trying to finally beat Mater Dei. There really was not a point to doing so. Everyone in Linton does not wish to be reminded about the series history with the Wildcats.

Instead of complaining about why a private school from one of the largest cities in the state was in its sectional, Linton embraced the challenge. The Miners changed their defensive front. Became more aggressive in the passing game. Made more of an effort to get bigger in the weight room. Built up its confidence and swagger during the regular season with each win.

It nearly worked. Linton trailed 37-0 to Mater Dei a year ago. The largest lead the Wildcats had in Friday’s sectional semifinal was 28-19 as the Wildcats only won by a point. Basically, an improvement of five touchdowns. If the Miners recovered a Wildcat fumble in the fourth quarter, or made a two-point conversion in the second quarter, Linton would have won the game. It took key plays for Mater Dei to prevail, including multiple conversions on third and long. Its first touchdown was on a fourth down play that set the tone.

Linton’s season lasted just 11 weeks but its 12 seniors spent at least six years building up to it. The Miners will still be a good team next year but guys like Gabe Eslinger, Drew Smith and Kaulin Padgett are not players you just replace the following year.

The seniors on this team had swagger. Confidence was never scarce. I have interviewed high school athletes where they say all the wins and titles they will get and I knew they had little chance of reaching those big goals the second they said them. It’s different with Linton football. All the Linton players said they would get a picture on the wall and they did by going undefeated in the regular season. They meant every word when they talked big dreams. It took 11 games for their swagger to finally lose some momentum.

I will personally miss Jaydan Miller and Donovan DeBruhl on this team next year. As the season wore on, it became obvious that Miller and DeBruhl were pure gold when it came to quotes. At the end of these games I was like, “Where is Jaydan? Where is Donovan? I’ve got to find them.” If they wish to work in sports media, I know they will succeed.

Had Linton won, I would have had to scramble to do a feature on “Bobbie Jo.” A name Linton players would chant on key plays from the sideline. Who is Bobbie Jo? Miller explained it to me and honestly, I still don’t really get it. If Linton had kept winning, I would have had to track this woman down and get her to a Linton practice and record the player’s reactions. Maybe that can still be done for baseball season.

A group of players called themselves the “Dew Crew.” What it means or how they got the moniker the players wouldn’t say. Hopefully, it’s nothing inappropriate.

The 2021 Miners were a fun team to watch and cover. I was not here in 2016 when Linton won the state title. It would be interesting to see the 21 team take on the 16 team. I do feel this Linton squad would have won a state title on the Class A level. If Linton was a talk radio town, stations would be filling time by debating what team was the best. Thankfully, Linton is not a talk radio town.

This year’s team went undefeated as a good number of Linton teams have done but did so against a tougher schedule the other undefeated teams did not have contend with.

I am not a Linton football historian so I will not say which Linton team is better. I do know that despite the loss to Mater Dei, the 2021 team is in the conversation. Is it possible that the best Linton football team is one that did not win its sectional? I say it is possible.

That does not make it easier for those players and coaches who have another offseason of trying to figure out what it takes to beat Mater Dei. Losing to the same team stinks. Perhaps that’s all needs to be said.

Nathan Pace is the Sports Editor for the Greene County Daily World and can be reached at npacegcdw@gmail.com. His “Low Budget Sports Show” airs weekly on Facebook Live.