Nov 12, 2009
If there is one universal truth in sports, it is that no one likes to lose. Great athletes accept defeat because they must, but they never enjoy it. Losing can be downright miserable; especially when it comes in bunches.
Losing a game here and there is one thing. Losing streaks are on another level entirely. Going an entire season without a victory? I cannot begin to imagine what that feels like. The Detroit Lions finished 0-16 in the NFL last year, but at least the players got rich just for showing up every week.
It has happened to a number of high school football teams in the Triangle in recent years. One of those local grid-iron squads to endure a winless season was the Wildcats of East Chapel Hill. In fact, until October 16, 2009, the Wildcats had dropped 24 consecutive games.
Thomas Moore is involved in just about every play that East Chapel Hill runs.
“We’re talking about a kid who never comes off the field,” says Wildcats head coach Darian Harris.
Moore spends time at linebacker, running back, wide receiver and kicker. Wins have been so hard to come by at East, that he entered his final season without a victory on the Wildcats’ home field.
With 20 seconds left in the Wildcats’ homecoming game, Moore missed what would have been the game-winning field goal from 55 yards out. However, the visiting team was flagged for running into the kicker. Moore would get another shot, this time from 50 yards away. The senior had never made a field goal from that far out in his career.
“My confidence level was pretty high,” Moore explained. “It’s time to make it happen, and win the game, all for one... It was one chance to make it happen, finally get us a victory.”
He made it. Moore’s kick cleared the crossbar and the Wildcats cleared the win column of that unsightly zero. It was the first home victory for the East Chapel Hill High School football team since August of 2005. The win snapped a 24 game skid overall, and another 24 game streak of home losses.
The hero, a four-year varsity player, calls it the best moment of his athletic career. “Definitely number one,” says Moore. “It was a great feeling.”
“It was amazing, because after that came lots of hugs. Hugs everywhere. It was worth the wait,” said Coach Harris. “I told the kids to soak it up. Some of them took 30-45 minutes to get off the field.”
It would have been understandable if those players celebrated all night long. The losing streak must have been nearly unbearable. It’s been said that adversity builds character, and that we learn more from failure than success. If that is the case, then East Chapel Hill seniors like Thomas Moore must be wise beyond their years, with resolve to spare.
The Wildcats head coach would tell you that is exactly right.
“He’s an amazing kid,” Coach Harris says of Moore. “There’s not many like him out there... I wouldn’t trade him for any football player in the world.”
Moore never let himself get too discouraged, because he knew the team would get that elusive win one day. “I always felt like if we kept working as hard as we could, it eventually would happen to us. It did in the end.”
“Right after a loss, people would get really down. But, then we’d rally together as a team on Monday, and come back to fight again on Friday.”
“It was tough, no doubt about it,” says Coach Harris. “It was frustrating and tough. But the kids made it worthwhile to come out every day.”
At the conclusion of the winless 2008 season, Harris gathered some of his seniors and asked them if there was anything he could improve upon to help the team win. Even on their way out the door, his players supported him and told the Wildcats coach that his victory would come soon.
“One of them came to the game, and enjoyed the victory with us,” said Harris. “It’s those kinds of things that keep you coming back every day. I wouldn’t want to be any other place than East right now.”
Overwhelming feelings of joy and relief were shared across the East Chapel Hill school and community after the big win. But, the work is nowhere near complete for the Wildcats.
“We can just turn around,” says Moore. “And begin again.”
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