And So It Goes...

Only a handful of teams in college football can actually call themselves "champion" by the end of the season- by my count, it starts at five and goes no higher than ten schools.

So, by definition, every other team in the world involved in the process finishes a season with a loss. That's just the way of the competition. The only time in the sport that a "T" is involved is during the regular season. It can't keep you playing another week during a post-season appearance.

The Shorter Hawks had a lot of "firsts" in their fourth season. First division title. First playoff appearance. So, by natural progression, we add "first playoff loss" in there as well.

But that happens...it's part of the deal.

The team's first-ever playoff game kept them within earshot of campus- Williamsburg, Kentucky. That's where the University of the Cumberlands ((pictured, thanks to me)) is located. Not the team that lost to Georgia Tech way-back-when 222-0.

That's the school in Lebanon, Tennessee- "Cumberland" singular.

There are train tracks 200 yards to your right. Interstate 75 is 250 yards to your left. It's a town carved in a valley in the foothills of Kentucky. It's appearance takes you back to a more industrial time. Pick-up trucks are all domestics and the owners could care less if there's rust on the body. There are farms with live animals grazing as if you are the interloper.

Which, you really are, by the way...

And to this town, it's all about football on a Saturday. The lone exception to the idea is that is close to freezing temperatures on the field. And I'm quite thankful I had some of those charcoal hand warmers I had left over from the night before.

The good guys got out to a 7-nothing lead, were tied at 7, and then gave up 24 straight points for a 31-7 loss. My personal opinion is that UC isn't a better team than Shorter. They just were better in that 60 minutes on the field. And that's what counts in a playoff run.

UC gets to road-trip to St. Francis in Fort Wayne on Saturday. Good luck on that one...

The one thing you notice more than anything else in the post-game talks is the emotion- from everywhere. The coaches who put their body, mind, and soul into the last four years- building a program from the idea of an idea- have an abrupt finality. That's it. There is no more with the group of freshmen that took the field against UC as seniors.

There was so much effort put in to the idea and the execution that once it's over, you really don't know what to do with yourself when you know that's all there is. Players were crying. Coaches were emotional. Family members, thankful for an opportunity to help build something special, are crying for their sons and their school.

But if you're looking for something to build on for a "next year," I give you this...

One of the league's best defensive players is Shorter linebacker Logan Lollis- conference defensive player of the year. With the game out of hand in the fourth quarter, the Hawks' AJ Baker forced a turnover and was running the other way. Those plays are where offense turns into defense and vice versa. Baker was heading in to open spaces, pursued by a UC lineman. This particular player, whose name and number will remain nameless, didn't see Logan coming.

And Logan broke the kid in two... clean hit, right between the numbers, off his feet, in the air.

The poor guy was plastered by a runaway train so hard he grabbed his earholes on his helmet and didn't leave the ground for a good minute or so.

You ask him what day it is...? He'd answer "Purple."

But the play wasn't over. Baker fumbled and UC headed the other way. Logan had the presence of mind, and the speed, to track down the ball-carrier before a score.

Of course, the idea that UC scored on a FIFTH-DOWN PLAY to make it 31-7 was lost on the officiating crew. But that's another story for another day... that and the two delay-of-game calls which came out of nowhere aren't sitting well with me, either.

So, what to do now...? Reflect with a smile and carry on- knowing that everyone involved has built a foundation. It's up to the rest to work on how they want the building to look...