Josh Ouellette
By Josh Ouellette
Oh the joy of the CIF playoffs. Not only do they have a twisted sense of humor in their pairings in some cases, they provide the players with a chance for a shot of greatness.
I was lucky enough to make three trips to CIF playoffs and experience the intensity they bring to every game. I was a part of teams that won four CIF games, and well obviously lost three. My senior year I was fortunate enough to advance to the semi-finals. Every year I played, I lost to the team that eventually went to the championship game. Two of the teams ended up winning.
Sure there is some solace in knowing that fact. No it doesn’t make it any easier to cope with.
But when I look back on these seven games of the 27 I played in at the Varsity level, I remember the moments of the game much more clearly then the others.
There is a heightened sense about the game. An air to the crowd. A look in your teammates faces. A focus of everyone around you. One mission. To win and keep playing.
As an underclassman, you do it for the Seniors. As a Senior, you do it so you can play as much football as you possibly can while still in high school. It carries the best moments with the worst. On the field and in the locker room CIF playoffs are something special.
It’s like the March Madness of high school football. You never know what’s going to happen by the end of the game. You can be sure of one thing though. The players will treat every play like it’s their last. Because it just might be.
So go to a game. Watch some football in its purist form.
I really wrote this to pose a forum for everyone who reads this and has a memory as a player, coach, or fan in the stands who were fortunate to be a part of these special moments.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be about football. But comment here on the story, on the site, and share them. Because when we remember them, it’s almost, just almost, like we’re back in them. That’s a world I wish I could live in. God knows when I die my heaven will be my senior year in my final game against Paraclete. I wouldn’t change the outcome. I’d just play.
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