High hopes and big dreams in football opener

Walled Lake

If the eerie orange moon rising in the Michigan sky had any bearing on a football game, someone should have mentioned it to Walled Lake Western.

The opening night of the high school football season proved to be a bummer -- at least for Western, which lost to defending Division II state champion Lowell, 30-7.

Still, as the end neared, Warriors linebacker Brent Zbebski wasn't in the mood to give up. Not yet.

"Let's go," he screamed. "Keep on fighting. Keep on fighting."

Unfortunately, the fight was gone for the home team.

Lowell was too deep and too talented.

Still, Western's team -- and heart -- provided hope for a younger generation of players.

In the stands, a group of 12- to 13-year olds watched, hoped and dreamed that someday, they'd be the ones on the field, fighting for a victory.

"I am enjoying myself," Walled Lake Braves quarterback Dave Walczyk said. "But I'd rather be playing."

His day at Western will come. But first, he'll prepare for hisseason opener Saturday against the Northville Cats.

The Braves play in an eight-team league, and last year lost to Livonia in the title game at Eastern Michigan.

Great atmosphere

The scene at Western played out all over the state, as battles were decided in Macomb Township, Wayne and Grosse Pointe.

At Western, like other places, the parking lot was filled. Crowds of kids talked about the coming school year and cheerleaders strutted and danced at midfield.

There was even a comical moment during the game when the announcer said: "Here are some scores from around the league. 7-3. 14-10 and 21-6."

Hey, he didn't say anything about matching those scores with actual teams.

And even in defeat, there were lessons learned for the younger boys, passed along by Brent Zdebski.

"You always keep your head up and keep playing," he said. "You saw what happened out there. We were in it in the fourth quarter but made mistakes, let up a bit and they popped a couple of big plays."

Zdebski vowed this team would rebound.

"Hopefully you will find a way out there again," he said.

The young boys took notes because they know their day will come. They run the same system, the same plays and have similar terminology. They even follow the same warmup routine.

"I can look out there and learn from the older boys," said Drake Temple, who plays just about every offensive position. "I can learn from the mistakes and try not to make them when I play."

Dave Venegas, who has coached the Braves nine seasons, has seen his players filter onto the varsity. He watched with pride as they battled Lowell.

"You know it feels good to see your guys out there," Venegas said. "You have pride seeing them play in the blue."

Sometime this week, he will sooth some of his old players as they try to recover.

But first, he has a big game Saturday, one he hopes is brighter than the bad moon rising game Thursday.

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