FROM KEITH GROLLER
Tears were flowing, fittingly, on the east side of J. Birney Crum Stadium late Saturday afternoon.
At the end of a gorgeous early November day, Dieruff's football team was basking in the glow of its 31-0 win over a spirited Allen team.
Beating Allen finished off a 5-5 season that represents a breakthrough for the Huskies football program.
Dieruff realizes it was just a couple of plays shy in a couple of games from being 7-3 or maybe even 8-2, and instead of packing away the uniforms after Monday's JV game, the varsity could be playing more football next week in the Eastern Conference of District 11 tournaments.
But from where this progam was two seasons ago, or even at this juncture last year, to 5-5 after 2013 ... well, everyone involved should not waste any time in wondering what might have been. Instead they should take a deep breath and enjoy where they are and realize that the future looks a whole lot better than the past.
Look, Dieruff is not Parkland, Whitehall, Easton or Emmaus and may never be. Had the Huskies still been in the Lehigh Valley Conference this season, they might have only been 2-8 or 1-9
However, you need to build somewhere. You need to experience some success, create a source of pride and from what I saw on the field on Saturday, the Dieruff kids have a considerable amount of pride in what they've done. No longer is it an embarrassment to say you play for the Dieruff football team.
Instead, it's now something to feel very good about; something you want to be to a part of.
Dieruff is in a constant fight to keep its kids. There are people out there who are telling Allentown youngsters "Football is dead in this city. Go elsewhere."
Well, football at Dieruff seemed very much alive and well all season.
Beaming principal Sue Bocian said the atmosphere in her building this year has been incredible.
The smiles on the faces of the players, the coaches, the families said it all.
Emotional head coach Kyle Beller, a Dieruff alum who was determined to get the program on track, talked to the kids in his postgame huddle about taking it all in and remembering what this team accomplished.
"We were really hoping we could get another week or two and keep this thing going," Beller said.
Still, they have accomplished more much than a playoff berth.
It is not far-stretched to say that the 2013 Dieruff football team has helped to save football in this city. At 5-5, people can point to these Huskies and say 'look at what they've done...look at the positive enviroment ... football is worthwhile keeping."
Next year, even better things are expected. Running back Shakur Lester and quarterback Chris Marks are back as are many key contributors to this year's team. More talent is coming through the system.
But as Beller pointed out, success is isn't going to happen automatically just because certain people are back.
Remember, three of the teams that Dieruff defeated this season come off the schedule -- Lehighton, Pius X and Wallenpaupack.
In the newly-configured league, Dieruff will still be in the Mountain Valley division, but will have to play Bethlehem Catholic and two other teams currently in the LVC. No word yet on who.
If the Huskies are going to get back to .500, or better, they're going to have to get better.
As disappointed as he was on Saturday, next year will be a biger disappointment to Beller if the Huskies don't get to play more than 10 games. He understands the challenge ahead.
"We have a lot of kids coming back, but that doesn't guarantee us anything," Beller said. "We have to make sure everyone is in the weight room and in the classroom in the offseason. We've got to keep this thing rolling. We can't be happy with 5-5.
"Nothing is given to you. You've got to work for it."
Beller and Lester both told me that they wished the 2014 season began today. You could sense that everyone involved wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to 2013.
"I'm going to miss it," Beller said. "I told the seniors I was truly proud of them and I think of them as being my own sons, as I do the whole team. This group has seen it. They've been there. They suffered through the 70-0 losses. They've been through it, stuck through it, bought into what we are doing. They've seen some success now. I wish we could have gotten some postseason success, too, but they laid the concrete. And now we've got to make it solid and build on it."
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