Regional-The Drive

Things had to get harder right? Oh they did. Pioneer would play a team that I had never heard of named the Whiting Oilers from the Northwest region of Indiana. This was a Chicago suburb that lies up near Gary, Indiana. As Coach Johnson and Coach Brock were showing us tape of Whiting something stood out. As we watched the VHS tape on our 37 inch tube television in Coach Johnson’s English classroom we saw what seemed to be a goliath sized running back. His name was Paul Strabavy and he was built like a Greek God. He was 6 foot four 215 pounds and seem to enjoy running over people. I found that he is a police officer in South Bend and helps direct traffic at Notre Dame football games. Paul was also one of those guys that did everything. He played running back, linebacker, punter, and did pretty much everything for the Whiting Oilers. At the time, I game film was deceptive to me. I didn’t think he looked that good on tape. Boy was I wrong. He was damn good. He also had a quarterback that could sling it all over the field. Our scouting reports for the games were starting to kill more trees and get more in depth.  Our film analysis was more focused and structured. We wanted this and we trusted our coaches more than ever. Coach Johnson and Coach Brock looked like zombies at school certain days because they were watching so much film. They were starting to shave less and had bloodshot eyes. I’d never seen Coach Johnson grow a beard and he was starting to form one. I remember asking him about it he said he wouldn’t keep it because it would look like a calico cat. The beard was shaved the next day. Practices seemed to get a little longer and the weather was turning for the worse. It was getting cold and practice was long. People like me were starting to wear gloves to keep their fingers in from the cold.  Hooded sweatshirts under the shoulderpads were never a good look, but they were more and more visible on the practice field along with running tights for the legs. The weather was not looking good for this November 14th 1997 game. It had been snowing and extremely cold all week.  The Pioneer game was played on their field named The Pit. It was going to be a pit on that Friday. Their was 5 inches of snow on the ground. The custodian had to get the tractor out and plow the field which left ruts in the field. I remember Coach Brock wanted to bring in salamander heaters which I was in favor of. Coach Johnson did not want to show weakness so he shot it down. I guess it was back to hooded sweatshirts, gloves, and small heat packets that all the bench players would use to stay warm during the game. I remember the pregame music playing from the pressbox speaker. The song was “Riding the Storm Out” by REO Speedwagon. It fit with the theme of this game nicely. As I sat in the locker room, waiting for the specialty players to return from their pregame routine of returning kicks and catching passes, I noticed a mood change in the seniors. They were pissed off about something. I asked what was going on. They shared with the team that Whiting had been talking an awful lot of trash on the field. They were cussing at our players and saying it was their time and their house. I had never seen the seniors so fired up. It could be interesting I thought to myself. I do remember Coach Johnson’s pregame talks at times and I know this was an awe-inspiring David vs Goliath speech. He would also ask the seniors to each tell the team why we were going to win. I don’t remember the seniors saying anything of significant importance, but I did notice a focused intensity on their faces that I’m not sure I had ever seen. Whiting was also upset that about the field conditions and were very unhappy with the mud. Really, Whiting was unhappy with everything from the field, to our public address announcer, and the size of their locker room. I think their griping led us to play more inspired football, but it did not look good in the beginning. I just remember knowing that I was bone ass cold on the sidelines and I look at Coach Bob Brock and the dude has a polo shirt on. A polo shirt!  It was 20 degrees. Bob has guilliane barre syndrome and I’m not sure if he felt the cold the same way we did, but I thought man this dude is tough. We did not start out good. Whiting’s running back Paul Strabavy was having a field day and was running all over us. The one factor that was going to be the difference in the game was how slippery the football was. This was going to create turnovers in Pioneer’s favor.  The first half ended up being a 10-0 score with Whiting on top at halftime. This score could have been worse because Paul Strabavy got loose on a 60 yard run down the muddy field. Then something incredible happened, As Paul Strabavy was marching down the field heading towards the endzone our Strong Safety and QB Tayt Odom shot down the field like a cannon and caught Paul Strabavy at the 20 yard line from behind. Pioneer would hold on and keep Whiting to a field goal   Pioneer would go in the weightroom at halftime and discuss strategy. I don’t remember what was said at halftime that game, but a flip switched. We made our adjustments and Whiting continued to make mistakes. My uncle was doing the public address and the Whiting head coach came up to the press box threatening him because he was one sided and you’re not supposed to be in tournament play. We ended up getting the score close 17-14 with Whiting ahead in the 4th quarter and about 3 minutes to go. Pioneer had the ball about about 65 yards to get to paydirt. The stands were packed and everybody was nervous about what would happen next.  This would be called The Drive. Pioneer marched in down the field using a series of run plays and a few pass plays and with less than a minute to play would go up 20-17. I remember looking in the stands on this frigid evening and thinking the stands were going to fall down because so many people were jumping up and down and cheering. Whiting had one last shot and threw a hail mary pass and Pioneer’s James Deboard picked off the pass and it was over. Pioneer took a knee to run out the clock and the celebration began. Whew! That was a close one. After the game the Whiting players were laying all over the field crying because they felt like it was their year, but it wasn’t their time. It was Pioneer’s time. Paul Strabavy from Whiting had over 300 yards by himself, but it didn’t matter. He fumbled 4 times and we capitalized.  Pioneer had won their first ever sectional and now regional in dramatic fashion. It still lives on in Pioneer history and the Pioneer football highlight film shows just how dramatic that ending was. The crowd was nuts. The players were nuts. Jamie Whallon, Pioneer’s running back and defensive end, took his helmet and did the most incredible celebration at the end of that game that I have ever seen. He was jumping and running and screaming at the top of his lungs all by himself.  It was David versus Goliath and David won.