BY DANI TIETZ
dani@sjodaily.com
In 1988, Oakwood High School’s seventeen-year-old Philip Huchel had one thing on his mind: game day.
It meant everything.
Now, 30 years later, as the 1988 Oakwood Football team prepares to be honored at Friday night’s football game against Georgetown-Ridge farm, what Huchel remembers is the work that was done in six days between game day.
Under the leadership of coaches Marty McFarland, Bob Sermack and Mike Nolan, the Comets lost two regular-season games that year, to Schlarman Academy and Georgetown-Ridge Farm before going on to the IHSA State Quarterfinals.
Huchel said that it was the teams that came before them and the coaching staff’s standards that maintained the focus of excellence.
McFarland said that in 1982 and ‘83, the Comets were Vermilion County Conference Champions. In 1984, the team, which had seven wins did not make it into the playoffs. Neither did the 1985 team.
By 1986, Huchel’s sophomore year, the Comets were back in the playoffs and by 1987, they were conference champs again.
“Growing up, you knew you’re going to want to be a part of that tradition,” Huchel said.
“At that time, Oakwood had a really good program, Coach Mac, Surmack and Nolan, All of those guys obviously were the foundation that all of that was built on. The coaches were tremendous and great role models in the community, just good people to grow up around.”
Hard work, dedication, and toughness bled down to the team members from the coaching staff.
Huchel said the team’s success in 1988 was less about talented players and more about loyalty to each other.
“Football is a sport where if one guy doesn’t do his job, the whole play is ruined,” Huchel said. “You’ve got to have team unity. It wasn’t that we were all that talented, it was more that we worked as one big happy unit, and we were successful at doing that.”
Huchel led the Comets at quarterback his senior year, completing 78 or 149 passes for 1,186 yards and 8 touchdowns. Senior running back Jeff Peak rushed for 1,417 yards and scored 22 touchdowns.
McFarland said that the team’s postseason success may have been on the backs of the defense, which made improvements over the fall season.
Sermack, who worked mostly with the defense, remembers a “no passing zones” poster the team made.
The Comet defense went on to help hold off Tuscola in their IHSA first-round game, then stopped Macon, who held the state record for rushing, in the second round.
Oakwood beat Macon in three overtimes before a season-ending 41-6 loss in the quarterfinal game against Williamsville.
McFarland said he was blessed with a coaching staff and players who bought into his program over his 22-year tenure at Oakwood High School.
“We considered ourselves a disciplined program. Our kids behaved themselves, let’s put it that way,” he said.
Maybe even more important to McFarland was the team receiving various sportsmanship awards, including the Vermilion County Sportmanship Award in eight different seasons.
“That was important to me,” he said.
The high standards set by the coaching staff were reinforced by the parents, the community and the administration, leaving the students wanting to please the adults and also each other.
“They put football first,” McFarland said.
“It was weird,” Huchel said. “It was unspoken. It wasn’t like you had to say anything. Nobody wanted to let the next guy down.
“The parents, the way the raised us, we all had great parents who were very supportive. Not like overly supportive and told us how great we were. They just said if you work hard, good things will happen. You can do it, but you guys are going to have to work for it; we can’t do it for you.”
But the parents and the community were on the sidelines witnessing the fruits of the hard work the team put in.
“Crowds three to four deep on the sidelines,” McFarland said.
“We had very good fan following and support. They did a lot of nice things for the kids and I think the kids were very appreciative.”
Huchel believes the supportive atmosphere of the Oakwood community is what makes it a special place to grow up.
After graduating from high school, and continuing on to play D-1 baseball, Huchel has enjoyed strengthening the bonds with his former teammates and coaches.
“They are like family members,” he said. “They are closer than friends.”
Sermack said that all the former players continue to show respect to the coaching staff, even all these years later.
“As adults, as we’ve grown up, they’ll always be my coaches, but there is a really tight bond there that will never be broken,” Huchel said.
Sermack believes that the fact that Oakwood High School is taking time to look back is important.
“Recognizing the past is important,” he said. “You can’t just forget it. To have the guys back and give them a little bit of recognition for what they did all those years ago, I think it’s special.”
As the trio coached the teenagers, they tried to help them realize how the moments they were creating at the time were fleeting.
“We used to talk about that all the time; that this was the best time of their lives and to enjoy it while they are there,” McFarland said. “It goes by in the blink of an eye, then it’s over.”
Looking back, Huchel agrees.
Realizing that he hasn’t seen some of his teammates since they graduated 30 years ago, Huchel said he is looking forward to the reunion.
“The thing that I love the most is that we will always remember that time that it was just us and the coaches.
“We had the parents and the community, and all that support on the outside, but when we went into the locker room, we knew it was just us.
“Even though we’ve been gone for 30 years, I know that’s the same way it’s going to feel again. It never leaves you.”
