Eric Bennaka

I've never been more proud of a team than I was tonight.

I will never forget this moment. #US #WarriorPride

A yearly Friday of district championship football reminder; the coaches on the sideline tonight have already put in an extra 3 weeks of time.

Applaud them. Thank them. Be appreciative of them. Regardless of the outcome or playing time tonight. Cheer on the team. Cheer on your kid. Be so extremely proud of your kid(s) for all of their hard work; knowing some of the lessons learned from this group of coaches will continue to pay off for years to come. The memory of tonight will hopefully last for a long time; you get to help shape that memory. What do you want it to be?

As for the coaches, their coaching stipend is the same. This is not the NFL. There are no playoff bonuses. Three extra weeks of planning, preparation, enjoyment, stress, time away from family; there is no extra pay for pushing your children to get to heights they used to dream of. Would you work for 3 additional weeks with no additional pay? Coaches do. The eventual state finalists have 3 more weeks to go too. And they don't think twice about it.

Think about that before you go tonight. And before you hit send on that post. Or before you make a comment in the stands. It matters.

Win or lose; embrace the awesomeness about what it means as a program and community to get to a district title game and enjoy the ride! There is nothing better!

Good luck to all of those lucky enough to be involved!

P.S. The same is true for the band director, cheer coach, etc. who might also be working tonight!

Donuts with Dad to start the day at school!

I’m glad Southern Illinois had the same defensive success rate vs. Lincoln that we did.

Certified bucket better. Keep going, Linc!

Had a good teammate at practice today.