Character.

Webster defines it as “the set of qualities that make a person or group of people different from others of the same kind.”  Churubusco High School lost a football game and a shot at a possible NECC conference championship to the Fairfield Falcons on Friday night 41-30, but if you ever wanted to see character personified, you got to witness it along with about 5000 other folks on the Falcons home turf.

This loss will hurt for a while, and Head Coach Lee Etzler told his team “it should hurt, but we still have things we want to accomplish.”  The character that the Eagles demonstrated Friday night will help them achieve those goals.

On the opening kickoff, Fairfield found a seam and ran it back for a touchdown, taking a 7-0 lead with all of 13 seconds gone in the game.  Some teams quit as soon as they are faced with this kind of adversity, but not a team with character. 

The Eagles first series was inauspicious, with two consecutive motion penalties leading to a three and out.  Fairfield scored on their next series, with a 52-yard halfback pass gaining most of the yardage, and suddenly Busco was down 14-0. 

School spirit galore! Carly Comparet and Kelsey Gibson go all out for the Black and Gold at the Busco vs Fairfield game Friday night.

It could have gotten ugly at this point, but the jitters disappeared with discipline and execution taking over, and the Eagles took it the length of the field to get right back into it 14-7.  It was at this point that the Eagles were gaining confidence, running the Wing-T offense to perfection, gashing Fairfield’s defense consistently with traps and sweeps, and driving to tie the score from inside the red zone.

A tipped pass, however, resulted in a very long interception return for a touchdown by Falcon star Alic VanOver, making the score 21-7.  This was a gut punch, something that would make most teams absolutely quit and opt for a running clock the rest of the game.

Character.  When it is too tough for the rest of ‘em, it is just right for us.  Insert your own sports cliché here. 

The teams traded touchdowns, and with Busco down 28-14, they again came up with a stellar drive in the final minutes of the first half, scoring with just 3.3 seconds left in the first half to get within 28-21.

The momentum was clearly favoring the Eagles, they were moving the ball at will, and they were ready to head to the locker room down just one score after giving up some big plays in the first half.

Busco squib kicked to avoid a long return, and a facemask penalty was called on the Eagles.  Since the half can’t end on a defensive penalty, Fairfield was given the ball at the 35, and on the final play of the half, Alic VanOver showed his speed and got loose on offense for the only time, taking it to the end zone to give the Falcons a 34-21 lead at half.  If his interception return was a gut punch, then this was getting slugged right in the mouth.

Surely, Churubusco would not recover from this kind of disappointment, what team could? Tremendous character.  All the Eagles did was come out and absolutely dominate the second half, scoring nine points to get within 34-30 with just under four minutes to go.  Driving for the go-ahead score down to the Falcon six-yard line, it just wasn’t to be.

It is often said that teams learn more from losses than wins, and this one hopefully taught a lot.  Busco never hung their heads, never quit, when they had every excuse in the world to do exactly that.

Tough times don’t last, tough people do.  They will be back.

Story by Brian Graham

A wee fan sits amid the adults.

Busco fans watch the fireworks display at halftime.

Check out those gold tights!

The parking lot was filled to overflowing an hour before the game started. Many had to park on the highway and walk to the field.

Perfect football weather.

Coach Lee Etzler gives a post-game talk.

Game over.