By Troy Hayes
MaxPreps.com
DECATUR – It hurt Derek Spates to watch the team he loves fade into obscurity.
It hurt to watch as the number of kids wearing MacArthur T-shirts faded right along with the number of players on the football team.
It hurt that no one wanted to talk about a team with one winning season in the past 12 years.
It hurt that when they did, it was usually negative.
It hurt that no one felt the pride that he did in wearing the blue and silver.
It just plain hurt.
So you’ll have to excuse Spates – now in his second year as head coach at the school – if he gets a little emotional when he talks about the work put in by his players to turn around a slumbering program, the 7-2 record that’s resulted from it, the home playoff game against Jacksonville coming this weekend, the excitement he sees in the students, the pride shown by kids wearing Generals jerseys, the confidence grown at the school at Fairview and Grant in Decatur and the buzz in the hallways.
Heck, even grocery store clerks want to talk about the Generals now.
His Generals.
Not that Spates thinks this is his team in the selfish, ‘It’s-all-me’ sense. It’s his team because it always has been, just like it’s always been his teammates’, his coaches’ and all that have come before and after. Their team, their school. His team, his school.
“When I was a kid, all I wanted to do was be a Generals football player," said Spates, who enjoyed some of the few winning seasons in the past 25 years as a MacArthur player. “I wanted to grow up and play for MacArthur. I couldn’t wait to get that blue and silver jersey. I want it to be like that for every little kid that comes to see us play."
The players can see that day coming already.
“You see other kids at school wearing MacArthur T-shirts now all the time," senior safety Jhamari Coleman said. “We wear our T-shirts somewhere, and people at the stores ask us how we’re doing and ask about the game. We’ve accomplished so much since he’s been the head coach. Everyone is excited."
Behind juniors Robert Smith (quarterback), Kieston Greene (wide receiver) and Ladarion Shelby (running back) – all Division I and I-AA recruits – the Generals have changed their fortunes.
When you see your team on the right track, when you see them proving all the doubters wrong, when you see a young man swell with delight over a stranger’s inquiry, well, that can overcome a guy who has long bled for a school.
“Because I am a MacArthur football player, and I am still a MacArthur football player, (the turnaround) is very special," Spates said, his voice breaking, wracked with emotion. “I’ve seen my school down for so long… you know? When I played here, we were successful and I was proud to be a General. That’s why it’s so special to me to see these kids perform well. They are proud now to be Generals."
They should be. MacArthur, which ended second in the Big 12, hasn’t seen this success since 2001 when the Generals went 8-3.
But Spates won’t dare talk about anything but Jacksonville in the future sense.
He will, however, talk all day about the growth of the Generals both on and off the field.
“Teachers are coming to me and saying how much they enjoy not only watching the games, but how much they like having the football players in class," he said. “Watching them in the halls and how they have built respect the right way, the pride they show in their school, that’s what I want here."
Dealing the hurt instead of absorbing it is just a little added bonus.
We can score, can you?
Maroa-Forsyth, which has a state title and semifinal and quarterfinal appearances in the past four years, may just have another big run up its sleeve in 2008.
The Trojans are their usual selves in scoring this season, racking up 340 points as they’ve gone 8-1. But this team is also adept at shutting opponents down.
Defensive coordinator Tony Klein has helped guide Maroa to six shutouts this year, including four in a row to end the season. The last time a team put any points on the board was in Week 5 when 7-2 Macon Meridian put up 35 in a shootout at Walter Boyd Field that the Trojans won 38-35 with a final-minute field goal by Alex Chiligiris.
In all, the Trojans have allowed just 74 points this year.
Getz recruitment gaining speed
Speculation about where Macon Meridian quarterback Dakota Getz will continue his football career after high school got a little cloudier recently with Illinois, Iowa and Southern Illinois all showing late interest in the 6-foot-4-inch, 210-pounder.
What position he’ll play has also gotten a little murkier. Initially interested in Getz switching to tight end, Western Illinois and Illinois State now are reportedly recruiting him as a quarterback.
Getz has rushed for 1,225 yards and 21 touchdowns, thrown for 1,794 yards and 17 TDs and returned a fumble for a score. The 3,019 total yards so far this season place him 17th all-time in the state according to the Illinois High School Association site.
Tennis anyone?
Springfield High School made the deepest run of any downstate tennis team at last weekend’s girls state finals. Mia Elmore’s consolation bracket semifinal run boosted the Senators to a 10th-place team finish.
Troy Hayes covers central and southern Illinois for MaxPreps.com. He can be reached at sportsgopher@yahoo.com
