About three dozen Mt. Blue football players knelt in a circle at one end of Caldwell Field, helmets off, heads bowed. Through the whistling wind, they listened to words of consolation from their coach while trying to ignore a celebration that was taking place half a field away.

A little more than 50 yards away, their counterparts from Skowhegan were whooping and hollering, shaking hands, slapping backs and shoulder pads as the joy of a 20-0 upset over Mt. Blue began to set in. Parents and cheerleaders from both sides were scattered around the field, but it was perhaps the most emotional and intimate moment the Cougars had shared this fall. When their coach finished his speech and stepped aside, the players stood up, tightened their circle, lifted their heads and raised their helmets high above them for one last speech from their captains.

The same ritual played out on a dozen high school fields across the state this weekend. It will be repeated at a half-dozen more next weekend and the next week at Fitzpatrick Stadium. There will be tears and long embraces. Many players, knowing that they’ll never set foot on a gridiron again except as a spectator, won’t want to leave the field.

The end of football season is unlike the conclusion of any other in high school sports. Sure, athletes and coaches in all endeavors bond through blood, sweat and tears. They stare down adversity together, share the deafening silence of the bus ride after a heartbreaking loss and exchange high-fives in the boisterous locker room after a hard-fought win.

Football is something different, though. Maybe it’s because the game demands that you sacrifice your body for the good of your teammates. It could be because on Friday night or Saturday afternoon you’re sharing a water bottle with the guy you’ve been pounding on in practice all week. Or it might be just because if it weren’t for your teammate, your shoulder pads would be hanging out of your jersey all night.

For whatever reason, football seems to resonate with its participants more than other team sports. The friendships among players and the bonds between players and coaches seem to last longer beyond high school..

Head coach Gary Parlin has been closer to other groups of Mt. Blue players. He coached his son Cole’s class from youth football right up through to the varsity and was very emotional when that group’s season was ended by the same team on the same field three years ago. But watching the 2004 season come to an end was, in many ways, just as tough.

“I told them, and this is the God’s honest truth, not something off the cuff, this is the most fun I’ve ever had coaching,” Parlin said. “I enjoyed my son’s senior year but there was a lot of pressure because my son was playing.”

“I couldn’t wait to get to practice every day with this group,” he added. “These guys came and busted ass every day.”

With just one starter returning from last year’s team, a lot of people wondered if Mt. Blue would be able to compete in the Pine Tree Conference this year. Parlin had his own questions about the team, but its competitiveness wasn’t one of them. He knew these players had waited their turn and were eager to prove themselves this fall.

That’s why the 2004 Cougars will stand out to Parlin. Despite the disappointing finish to their season, they exceeded even his expectations by going 8-2 and making it to the semifinals. Standing in the middle of that last post-game circle, he could look to his left. look to his right, look behind him or in front of him, and spot a player who had justified his belief in them. Parlin will see those same players in the school hallway for another seven months. He’ll even coach some of them again in the spring during baseball season. Many of them will be back for football again next fall.

But Friday night was the last time those same three dozen young men and half-dozen coaches will be gathered round in a circle, on one knee, helmets off, under the lights at Caldwell Field.

Moments like that can not be recaptured in the winter or the spring.