By Patrick Sand
West Seattle Blog co-publisher
West Seattle High’s seniors took to the field. The game had been over for half an hour.
By ones and twos, they came out of the locker room and all but one walked onto the field. The seniors walked past the clutch of parents, grandparents, younger siblings, and girlfriends who waited for them outside the locker room and onto the turf. This was it – the last time they would all be under the same lights, and on the same field.
That one player stopped only to hug his mom before joining the others. As a sports fan, you can watch a game and think nothing of it, but as a parent, when you see another parent comforting a child with a broken heart, you cannot help but be moved. Even just to see the players as they left the field:
That last game happened last night at Bellingham’s Civic Stadium — a 42-3 playoff loss to Ferndale High, ending the Wildcats’ season at 9-2, a season that had started 8-0.
Save for an offensive explosion on their first possession, West Seattle found themselves contained by Ferndale’s utilitarian defense. Despite being a team that had readily outscored their opponents in the first quarter of each of their games this year, the Wildcats found themselves seriously behind early due to Ferndale’s balanced running and passing game, which was under the direction of Casey Locker, a cousin of UDub quarterback Jake Locker. The younger Locker rushed for 81 yards in the first half and went six for eight in passing on the night.
The game ends West Seattle’s most successful football season since 1964. Coach Davis Lura talked about the season and his players after the game.
At a pep rally just before the West Seattle homecoming game, we heard a parent say, “The Sonics are gone. The Mariners and the Seahawks aren’t doing so good. So if the men won’t give us something to cheer about, then it’s up to the boys.”
And so it was. West Seattle ends the year with an official record of 9-2. But when it comes to giving the community something to cheer about, they close out the season undefeated.
Previous WSB coverage of the Wildcats’ memorable season can be found in our WS & Sports archive.
| 7 COMMENTS