By Spencer Spilman
The senior class of the Lehman Lobos played its final high school football game on Friday night against the district powerhouse Westlake Chaparrals. While not a competitive pairing, Lobos’ coach Todd Raymond and the players knew the game was about much more than the 63-7 score at the end of the night.
The Westlake offense ruled from start to finish, and the defense held the Lobos to no score for most of the game.
Although the Lobos found themselves trailing 63-0 at one point, they refused to quit playing and never gave up on the field. Raymond has been working all year to get his team to play four quarters; Friday night they proved the effort was worth it.
For senior quarterback Jeremy Schilhab, it looked as if his final game would be a blowout loss. Schilhab had other ideas; he wasn’t going to go out without one more touchdown. With six minutes left in the game, Schilhab found his favorite target, Jay Sayles, for a 12-yard touchdown pass for Lehman’s only score of the game.
Schilhab seemed emotional in a post-game interview, but he cracked a smile when talking about the touchdown pass to Sayles.
“That one felt really good, and his (Sayles’) dad was in the stands so I know he wanted it,” he said.
Sayles showed a bit of emotion, too, knowing Schilhab and team captain Brett Wagner would not be around next year to get him the ball.
“I’m going to miss them … and I hate that we had to go out like this with a loss,” he said.
Raymond was proud of his team though and everything they worked for all year.
“They are a great group of kids,” Raymond said.
He added that Westlake coach Todd Dodge, who is a four-time State Championship winning coach, told Raymond how impressed he was at the Lobos’ will to never quit.
“That doesn’t show up on the scoreboard sometimes, but it does mean a lot for someone as accomplished as he is to say that about us,” he said.
Wagner was one of those players who never quit for the Lobos; not just Friday, but all season he was the spark for Lehman. With the Lobos well out of the game against Westlake, Wagner chased down a receiver and ultimately saved a touchdown. He followed that up with a long kick return that he almost busted all the way for a score.
“I just wanted to go out and give it all I had playing with my brothers one last time,” he said.
