Sportsmanship and being mindful of the community are two of the most important virtues when it comes to athletics at the high school level.
Never have I seen any community define those two like the citizens of La Porte County have over the past couple of weeks. Tie in the remarkable accomplishments on the field and intriguing story lines tied to the La Porte and New Prairie high school football teams, and you have a story that has “good news” written all over it.
On Tuesday night we saw something that’s almost unheard of. Fans of rival schools separated by a mere 11 miles joined together to cheer each other on in hopes of bringing two state titles home to the County. La Porte students made a video the week before wishing luck to not only their Slicers, but the Cougars as well before they would both bring home semi-state championships.
Let’s rewind a bit to the first week of the prep football season back in August. A lot of rivalry games were taking place across Northwest Indiana. Lowell was playing Crown Point, Clark was in Whiting and defending state champion Andrean was playing host to Bishop Noll. Not as many eyes were on one of La Porte County’s underrated match-ups, New Prairie vs. La Porte.
Most thought New Prairie would win. In recent years they have been dominant over their larger rivals in the traditional season opening match-up. Not this year, though. La Porte, behind a strong running attack from future Duneland Athletic Conference Offensive MVP Charles Salary, put up more than 50 on New Prairie and quickly became the “sleeper” team of 2014. New Prairie, on the other hand, was thought to have been in for a long season.
“After that, I thought it was going to be a tough year,” Cougar fan and parent Chad Weller told me following New Prairie’s regional championship over Lowell a couple weeks back.
But since then, it has been lights out for New Prairie. They haven’t lost.
In almost a completely opposite path to the title game, La Porte would lose again. Five times total, ending the regular season with a sub .500 4-5 record. Among the teams that beat them were Valparaiso and Michigan City, not exactly football powerhouses in Northwest Indiana.
I’m not a big fan of the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA)’s football playoff model of everyone getting in and then having a random draw to determine playoff matchups. I always thought that makes the entire regular season a glorified preseason and teams would often be encouraged to not gameplan in the final weeks heading into one-and-done play.
But without this often-criticized system, we wouldn’t have La Porte this year. The “Play for Jake” motto would not have carried over as a battle cry for a team on a Cinderella run to Indianapolis. Erin Parker may never have had the chance to give us the true answer to “What’s a Slicer?”
It’s not just those in La Porte or New Carlisle taking in all this County-pride. The folks in Michigan City have embraced both the Slicers and Cougars. The Michigan City Police Department and CityBytheLake.org are on board with La Porte County getting a pair of victory parades, making numerous social media posts wishing luck to their County rivals. Others are showing conference pride, county pride or even just region pride in wishing the Slicers and Cougars the best.
“Even though they were our arch rivals, glad the see the DAC in the title game! Bring the title home ya Pumpkin Heads!,” former Michigan City High School star wide receiver Andy Ricca shared on Facebook following the Slicers’ semi-state win over Fort Wayne Snider.
In a final show of togetherness, County natives near and far have been sharing “combined logos” showcasing both the Cougar and Slicer emblems in one image.
How fitting. One image. One County. Two state titles?
Regardless of the outcome on Friday (New Prairie vs. New Palastine) and Saturday (La Porte vs. Indianapolis Cathedral), the days after Thanksgiving should allow all of us La Porte County residents to be thankful for a true story of sportsmanship at its best. #GoSlicers #GoCougars.