Plaschke: Season in Paradise ends with cold, rain, sloppy play … and thanks
Their escape from the fire ended in the rain and cold, their strong backs shivering, their proud eyes flowing.
The soaked quarterback rocked in a teammate's soggy arms and cried, "It was my fault. It was my fault!"
The frigid running back, his feet planted in a chilly end zone puddle, whispered, "I don't want to leave this field. I can't leave this field."
It wasn't supposed to happen like this. The Paradise High Bobcats football team's resurrection season was supposed to march on forever.
One year after losing everything, nothing could stop them. A dozen consecutive wins, an unimaginable undefeated run that had the team pointed toward a state bowl game.
"I think at some point, we thought we were invincible," Coach Rick Prinz said.
Then, in a biting rainstorm, they stepped on the gray turf field at River Valley High to face powerful Sutter Union High and the truth surfaced.
They weren't supermen. They were 39 vulnerable
