Fan Forum: A commentary on the Butte Central-Frenchtown game

By Brother Patrick D. McCormack ,CFC - 11/17/2009

With indomitable odds against them and their high hopes inexorably crushed in Frenchtown on Saturday, Butte Central fans, football players and coaches paradoxically experienced one of their finest hours.

The visitors' bleachers overflowed to the areas in front of and behind the fences with a combination of current and past students and athletes, infants in their mothers' arms, and senior citizens in their 80s and 90s. Having arrived by cars and chartered bus, all of them were unwavering in their loyalty, pride and support. Unquestionably, countless others who couldn't attend were glued to their radios in concert with the same intense spirit of camaraderie and enthusiasm.

Here was a team that had just lost decisively in the state semifinals under trying circumstances and tantalizing bad luck, injuries that effectively rendered their renowned teamwork unworkable and weather-wrought field conditions seemingly less favorable to them than to their bigger opponents.

A key factor in the defeat was the loss of Sean Ferriter, the Maroon's Central A Conference defensive MVP, due to an injury in the first quarter that sidelined him for the rest of the game. In a Sunday account, Montana Standard sports editor Bruce Saylor worte, "Losing Ferriter as an offensive tackle hurt the Maroons' offense, but his absence on defense was especially noticeable. Frenchtown appeared to capitalize." Also in the article, Saylor wrote, "Ferriter's injury forced BC to use Aschan Richards in the interior of the line more on offense, removing him as a pass receiving threat." In a powerful show of support, few, if any, Central fans left their places until the final whistle had sounded. With a loyalty undiminished by the loss, large numbers overflowed into the muddied field to express their unbridled pride in their youthful heroes and to join them in the customary prayer traditionally said at the end of every game. It was a grim and disappointed team, stone-faced with tear-filled eyes but heads held high, that after congratulating their victorious opponents now knelt in the soggy field in reverent, silent prayer for five minutes before reciting together a vocal prayer of praise to their heavenly Father.

Central's always competitive teams choose to play in a division with schools having five to eight times larger enrolments. Their astonishing success in both boys' and girls' competition has been extraordinary and their coaches exemplary. The most obvious example, of course, is the football coach, Don Peoples Jr., who himself starred for Central in the early '80s and in his 21 years as head coach has accumulated the enviable and likely unmatched record of 17 state playoffs, and 10 divisional champ- ionships.

More impressive still, is his rapport with his players so evident in his words of encouragement and praise, even in the wake of a loss that must have been at least as painful to him as it was to his young charges.

The 2009 Maroons had won their divisional championship without a single loss, making this one especially hard to swallow. But such is Butte Central Catholic's century-old spirit that the current Maroons, like their predecessors, refuse to dwell on the past but rather look hopefully to the future: Another victorious athletic season, more academic and extra-curricular scholarships and more worthy community projects.

Only last week, they joined their fellow students in anticipating Thanksgiving Day by hosting and providing a sumptuous dinner for Butte's senior citizens and families in need. Today they are already planning other faith-oriented projects for the future, among them the annual prom for senior citizens in January. On Fridays they will continue to be among the students who devote a half hour of their time in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in the School chapel.

One can't help loving and admiring our Butte Central young men and women, their parents and teachers, their coaches and all others who quietly and without fanfare make heroic sacrifices to keep alive the honored tradition of Catholic education in Butte. May it continue and increase as it embarks on its second century of commitment and excellence.

Brother Patrick D. McCormack ,CFC Butte Central alumnus and former teacher