Cardinals undefeated season ends in playoff loss
Leslie Johnston had a few words for her son.
And thousands of screaming football fans weren't about to drown out the Chicago Ridge mother.
"Go K.J.," Johnston blared from the stands to Kevin as he came off the field during the second round playoff game between the North Central College Cardinals and the Franklin College Grizzlies. "That's my child out there."
Dressed in a red Cardinals sweatshirt with a red and white scarf around her neck - refusing to take her eyes off the field until the final seconds of the half - Johnston certainly looked the part of the hard-core fan.
She certainly wasn't alone, as thousands of fans packed Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium in downtown Naperville Saturday to watch the undefeated Cardinals fight to play another game. In the end, the Grizzlies pulled out a 38-28 win over the Cardinals.
The parking lot was pockmarked with foldout tables, coolers and cases of beer, remnants of an early morning tailgate that briefly resumed in full force during halftime.
Herb Kuhn and roughly 40 family members and friends spent the morning cooking pancakes and sausages during the morning. Pulled pork sandwiches were on the menu during the intermission.
"We're out here every game, home and away," said Kuhn, whose son, Christopher, is on the team. "The away games are a little bit calmer."
A "game stick" of PVC piping Kuhn brings to every game marks the dates and scores of the entire season. Normally, it would be stocked with a six-pack of his favorite beer, too.
"The wife didn't let me bring 'em in," he said.
Hundreds of alums and older members of the school's football program showed up in force to support this year's squad.
Max Ziesmer, who played on the team in the early 1990s, brought his 4-year-old son, Luke, to show him where his dad once played.
"I spent a lot of time here and I'm just so proud of what the school has been able to do with this team," Ziesmer said.
"I wish we would've won like they're winning now," said Bob Murray of Chicago, who also played on the school's football team during the early 1990s and joined several of his old teammates in the stands. Head coach John Thorne "turned things around here and made these kids believe in the program."