Say goodbye to football

Just like that, football season is over.
The Stags, Cavaliers, Wolves, Knights and Green Wave all lost in the playoffs. Goose Creek got kicked out. And Cross won. This Friday night I don’t have any football games to cover, my first free Friday night in three months.
While it’s been darn cold at night the last two weeks, weather wise this season was a piece of cake. No rain. No tropical storms. Picturesque sunsets.
And now it’s over.
The Cross Trojans surprised everyone except themselves and won the Class A Div. II state championship with a 38-26 victory over McCormick. The championship is the first ever in the long history of Cross High School, and makes the Trojans 1-0 in state title games.
Cross never trailed in the game and featured this year’s version of The Four Horsemen in Branford Halls, Devontae Shepherd, Dionte Evans and Diamonte Evans. Shepherd and Dionte Evans each rushed for more than 1,000 yards, and Diamonte came close with almost 800 yards gained. All three return in 2013.
And these guys want another ring.
On Nov. 17, St. John’s Christian Academy played for a SCISA 8-Man football state championship and lost 58-42 in a game that took more than three hours because of all the scoring.
Berkeley lost in the second round to Socastee and looks to make a better run in 2013 with more than 40 seniors returning.
Stratford tanked after a great regular season and Summerville’s high point of the year happened when John McKissick won his 600th game. They too bid an early goodbye in the playoffs.
The two perennial state championship contenders, Goose Creek and Timberland, suffered similar fates. One was on the football field, the other in the courtroom.
The Wolves fell 48-13 to Dillon – again. As much as Timberland fans hate to admit it, the success of their team’s season lives and dies with the Dillon game. The Wolves are 1-6 overall against the school, with last year’s win paving the way for their first state championship.
This year the Wildcats racked up 48 straight points in a Lower State Finals rout.
With barely 20 percent of the teams in Class AA, Div. I posting winning records, there’s not a lot of opportunity to prepare for a team like Dillon. It’s like the Red Sox and the Yankees, a great rivalry but an even better rivalry once Boston rose up and dethroned New York and won a two World Series.
The countdown has started already – 360 days from Nov. 28 until the next Dillon game.  
Which brings us to Goose Creek.
The Gators looked poised to repeat as Class AAAA Div. II state champions, rolling over the competition like Sherman on his march to the sea. Then the news broke about the use of an ineligible player and Goose Creek’s season was done.
How and why has been digested more than last Thursday’s Thanksgiving Dinner and I’m not going to add my two cents worth. It’s over.
It is what it is and such a sportsmanlike gesture will never happen again unless some rules change.
So the 2012 football season is done. I’m not sure if I’m ready for it to be over. What kind of TV shows are there to watch on Friday nights, anyway?