I sat down this morning to put together some thoughts on last night's game and the regular season as a whole. Nine weeks of football, a 3–6 record, and a postseason that's about to begin. I was trying to figure out the best way to describe a season where we've seen a little bit of everything.
And with Halloween coming up next Saturday, I couldn't help but think about my seven-year-old, Greer.
She's spent the last few months trying to decide what she wants to be for Halloween.
First, it was Eleven from Stranger Things. Then Max, also from Stranger Things. Glinda from Wicked was in the running for a while. So was Taylor Swift. And at one point, we were pretty sure we'd settled on Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz.
Now, I believe we're going with Chrissy from Stranger Things.
If you're noticing a theme here, we might be Stranger Things fans. We even have a cat named Elle.
Anyway, I think we finally have her costume figured out. But we've still got a week, so I'm not making any promises.
So while Greer has finally settled on her Halloween costume, I'm still wondering which one the Yellowjackets are going to wear heading into districts
Because after nine weeks of football, I'm not sure we've completely figured out who this team is going to be, either. And I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing.
We've seen them stand toe-to-toe with Joplin. We've watched them battle back against Kickapoo. We've seen some really good offensive football, including Friday night's 56–23 win at Waynesville.
We've also watched nights when things just didn't come together. When mistakes piled up, opportunities slipped away, and the Jackets couldn't quite find their footing.
It's been a season where you never really knew what to expect from one Friday night to the next. A little like trying to figure out which Halloween costume we're buying this week.
But the more I think about it, the less I believe we've been watching a team that keeps changing who it is. Maybe we've been watching a young group that's still trying to figure that out.
And there's a difference.
Friday night at Waynesville, Lebanon closed the regular season with a convincing win, improving to 3–6.
The Jackets finished with 443 yards of offense, including 349 on the ground. Malachi Simmonds rushed for more than 200 yards, Beckett York scored three rushing touchdowns, and Gabe Starnes returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown.
It was the kind of night the Jackets needed heading into district play.
Afterward, Coach Wade talked about the importance of getting back to the physical style of football Lebanon has built its program around. He talked about getting healthier, improving up front, and carrying some momentum into the postseason.
And while Waynesville is still working to turn its program around, the Tigers showed some encouraging things of their own. Wade made a point to acknowledge that after the game.
For Lebanon, it was a good road win. Nothing more needs to be made of it, and nothing needs to be taken away from it, either.
I've been thinking quite a bit about where we were when this season started.
There were questions about experience. Questions about how quickly younger players would develop. Questions about what this team might look like after losing some important pieces from previous seasons.
Then came nine weeks of football. And if there's one thing we've learned, it's that this group hasn't always been easy to figure out.
After the early losses, there were plenty of people wondering what kind of season this might become.
Then came Joplin.
I remember the energy that night. I remember what that win seemed to mean to the kids and the people in the stands. And I remember thinking we'd just seen a pretty good example of what this team was capable of.
Maybe we'd finally figured them out.
A week later at Neosho, things went in a completely different direction.
I wrote something after that game that I still believe. The same group that struggled at Neosho was the group that had stood toe-to-toe with Joplin seven days earlier.
That wasn't an excuse for the loss. It was just the truth.
Then came Kickapoo.
The Jackets made mistakes, fell behind, and found themselves in a position where things could've gotten away from them. But they battled back and won.
I was careful then not to call it a season-saving victory. I still wouldn't. But it was a reminder that there's some fight in this group.
And through the rest of the season, we've continued to see both the promise and the growing pains.
Some really impressive moments. Some frustrating ones. And some good opponents who showed Lebanon exactly where it still had work to do.
That's part of high school football, especially when you're dealing with a team that's young in places, still developing experience, and trying to work through injuries and changing responsibilities.
I think sometimes we forget just how much we're asking of these kids.
It's easy to sit in the stands or watch a game on television and wonder why something didn't work. I've done it. We all have.
I also had the opportunity to play football for Lebanon, and while that was a long time ago, I remember what it felt like to be the kid standing on the field instead of the guy watching from the sidelines.
It's a whole lot easier to recognize what should've happened after the play is over. These kids are trying to figure it out while it's happening.
And sometimes they get it right. Sometimes they don't.
That doesn't mean they aren't working or that they don't care. It means they're teenagers learning to play a difficult game while representing a community that cares an awful lot about how they do it.
One of my favorite parts of Friday nights is getting to listen to Kevin Stubblefield and David Millsap call these games while watching another generation of Yellowjackets make memories of their own.
And the longer I'm around this, the more I appreciate everything that happens beyond the scoreboard.
The kids getting their first real opportunities at the varsity level. The teammates picking each other up after mistakes. The parents who've spent years watching their kids grow into the players they are today. The coaches putting in hours that most people will never see.
There's a lot that goes into nine weeks of high school football.
The record tells us Lebanon won three games and lost six. It doesn't come close to telling the whole story.
During Friday night's postgame interview, Coach Wade was already talking about what comes next.
He wanted the kids to enjoy the win, but he also made it clear that they had to turn their attention to the postseason. The goal all year has been to keep improving and be playing their best football when districts arrive.
Kevin and David had been talking about it during the broadcast, too.
Everybody starts district play at 0–0.
No wins. No losses. A clean slate.
And I really like that.
Not because the last nine weeks didn't matter. I think they matter a whole lot.
The wins, the losses, the mistakes, the adjustments, the practices, and the opportunities some kids have been given because somebody else couldn't play. All of it matters.
Because none of these teams is really starting over. They're just getting another opportunity to use what they've learned.
The teams that finished the regular season with seven or eight wins aren't suddenly forgetting how to play football. And the teams that finished with three wins aren't suddenly guaranteed to be better.
But everybody gets an opportunity to earn another Friday night.
Based on the latest Class 5 District 5 standings, Lebanon sits in the No. 7 position, with Camdenton holding the No. 2 spot. If those seedings hold when the bracket becomes official, the Jackets will head north on Highway 5 for a meeting with the Lakers.
Nothing is official just yet, but we know Lebanon will be on the road. And we know there won't be any easy games from here.
Coach Wade said Friday night that he believes this team has gotten better since Week 1. He also believes they're getting healthier and have an opportunity to put something together in districts that they can be proud of.
I hope he's right.
Not because I expect some miraculous transformation between now and next Friday, but because I'd love to see what this group can do with another opportunity.
And that brings me back to Greer and Halloween.
I'm pretty sure she's going to be Chrissy. After several months and more costume ideas than I can count, I think we've finally got it figured out.
As for the Yellowjackets, I'm still not sure exactly what we're going to see next Friday night.
But... that's part of what makes this time of year fun.
We've watched these kids win games, lose games, make mistakes, make big plays, and learn some lessons that probably weren't much fun at the time.
And now they get to take all of that into another week of football.
I don't know how many Friday nights this group has left. I hope there are several.
But regardless of what happens next, I hope we don't lose sight of everything these kids have put into getting here.
Nine weeks ago, we were wondering what kind of football team Lebanon might be. Nine weeks later, we've seen quite a bit, and I think there's still more to find out.
The Jackets finished the regular season 3–6.
They're heading into the postseason 0–0.
Everybody's 0–0. But nobody's starting over.
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