Opinion: The return of Friday Night Lights extra special for Evergreen

Evergreen’s Elijah English (21) and Thaddeus Pruitt (7) celebrate their team’s win over Union to open the 2024 high school football season Friday night at McKenzie Stadium. Photo courtesy Heather Tianen

The Evergreen Plainsmen defeated the Union Titans for the first time in program history, and it was a victory for the team, the student body, and the community
Paul Valencia
ClarkCountyToday.com

The fans were in a frenzy.

The coaches were going crazy.

The players were pumped.

Paul Valencia
Several Evergreen Plainsmen, in fact, were E-motional after Evergreen used the E-way to make some program history Friday night at McKenzie Stadium.

High school football is back in the state of Washington, bringing with it all the joy, and yes, heartache, associated with four quarters of action. There is a winner on the scoreboard. And a loser on the scoreboard, too.

Those are the risks all athletes take in order to compete in any sport. They work so hard in order to succeed, knowing full well that they also might fail.

For Evergreen’s football program, it had only known failure when going up against the Union Titans.

Until Friday night.

Until Sept. 6, 2024.

That’s the night the lights went out on that long losing streak to the Titans.

Raisean Chambers of Evergreen breaks free for a long gain Friday night in a win over Union. Photo courtesy Heather Tianen
A Week 1 victory certainly does not guarantee anything, but this Week 1 victory could be the launching pad to lift the Plainsmen to heights they have not reached in years.

From 2008 through 2021, Union and Evergreen played 12 times. And every time, Union came out a winner. Most of those games were blowouts, too.

This year? It was Evergreen. All Evergreen. Evergreen’s defense got the shutout in an 18-0 victory.

“It’s what all summer was about, our team. Every day in the weight room, it was all for this,” said senior Makhi Miller, who was instrumental in Evergreen’s superior defensive performance. “I’m so happy to play with my brothers. I’ll sacrifice everything for this team. I love this sport. I love my team.”

Miller had a difficult time getting the words out, overcome with elation.

Tru Feldman had one of the biggest individual defensive performances in recent memory for the Plainsmen. He had at least three sacks and was in on other tackles for loss. No. 11 was all over the field. He also scored Evergreen’s first-half touchdown on a short run.

The Union Titans had no answer for Evergreen’s Tru Feldman, who made tackle after tackle, sack after sack, in Evergreen’s win over Union. Photo by Paul Valencia
“It means the world to us. We knew coming in we were going to win. We believed in ourselves. It was all for love,” Feldman said. “I get emotional talking about it. … The way we won tonight was love.”

His teammates were not the only ones who believed. The student section was packed, and there was a big crowd for the designated home team in a stadium that is shared by both teams.

“We got this win for the community. It was much more than just the team,” Feldman said. “It’s the whole community around us.”

With just a couple minutes left in the game, with Evergreen in complete control, senior cheerleader Madison Nebre took a few seconds to credit the student body for helping the football team excel.

Madison Nebre, a senior cheerleader at Evergreen, said it is special to be part of Friday Night Light, and she and her classmates will always remember Friday night’s win over Union to open the 2024 season. Photo by Paul Valencia
“The student section, the energy that we have right now, I think that’s really what’s contributing to it,” she said. “When we have a happy student section, a hyped student section, when everybody is feeling good, that’s when we do the best. When everybody’s involved and cheering them on, (the players) get really hyped. This game has just been amazing to watch. It’s been so good.”

James Bethune, who scored on a 64-yard touchdown run for the Plainsmen, said he and his teammates do thrive on that energy from the crowd.

“It feels great to be playing under the Friday night lights again, to be out here, seeing the crowd, everybody supporting their teams,” Bethune said. “It pumps us up so much.”

The Union faithful packed the visitor’s side at McKenzie, too. They did not see a Union win, but if they were looking close enough, they saw progress. The Union defense played much better in the second half, holding Evergreen to one long TD run.

This is a work in progress for the Titans, but with new head coach Steve Pyne, they surely will show improvement in the coming weeks. Pyne won five state titles in Oregon. He and his assistant coaches know what they are doing.

But on this first Friday of the 2024 season, it was Evergreen celebrating after the game. The lights at the stadium went out at 9:30 p.m., with a few minutes still to be played. No one seemed to mind on Evergreen’s sideline. It just gave the Plainsmen — and their fans — a few more minutes to take it all in, this win over Union.

“I love Friday night lights, especially as a senior,” Nebre said. “Just to be involved. It’s fun. It’s great.”

It’s football. And it’s back.

Note: Paul Valencia is a reporter for Clark County Today. This is his 24th season covering high school football in Clark County.

Leave a comment Cancel reply