SYRACUSE - Nothing binds a community together like adversity - except maybe success.

Everyone has heard the story of the farmer who takes ill right before harvest. The farming community comes together to help and the crops are harvested in record time.

Or the story of the severe storm that blows through town causing lots of damage. The townspeople all pitch in and the cleanup and rebuilding get done in a hurry.

Just as tough times tend to unite people, success also knits a community together.

That's why it's no surprise that the success of the Wawasee Warrior football team is uniting the Wawasee community.

Everybody wants the team to continue its winning ways for one more game.

The team plays for the state championship in Class 4A on Saturday in the RCA Dome against 12-2 Indianapolis Roncalli.

Rare is the marquee in Syracuse, Milford or North Webster that doesn't contain the phrase "Go Warriors." There are cars and yards with signs wishing the team good luck. The local high school football team, without a doubt, is the talk of the town.

"They're awesome," said Jane Wilson of Syracuse Monday evening while shopping at Arthur's Fresh Market. Wilson is a transplant whose children were educated in another school system, but she's following the Warriors nonetheless.

"I listened to the game Friday and I was duly impressed with the excellence of the team. It's great to see the kids succeed," she said, adding that she was "confident" they would prevail Saturday.

Darlene Phillips has a grandson who recently moved back to the area. He was a fairly accomplished football player and when moving back, his family wound up in the NorthWood school system.

NorthWood is one of Wawasee's Northern Lakes Conference foes, and while NorthWood has a storied football program, it's the Warriors who are still playing this year. "I rubbed his (the grandson's) nose in it a little bit," Phillips joked.

She and her husband, Larry, were enjoying sandwiches and fries at Dairy Queen in Syracuse. They live on Kern Road "about a block from the field," Larry said, adding that while their children are all grown, they still listen to the games.

Jeff Secrist lives behind the Citgo station on Ind. 13. He wasn't at Friday night's semi-state game, but "I heard 'em from my house. You could hear the roar of the crowd."

Secrist, who was shopping at Family Dollar, said the success of the the team is "good for the town. Everybody's pretty hyped up about it. It's pretty exciting, really."

Tom Hoover has a nephew who plays on the team, so he's been following the team all year. He has a pretty good idea of why the team is so successful.

"I think they're a good, hardworking group of kids who have played together since the sixth or seventh grade. And they've got, in my opinion, the best coach in the history of the school."

Hoover said he has gotten to know a few of the players and "they're all good kids. Just a really good group of kids."

Rick Trosper is a former Syracuse resident who now lives near Dowagiac, Mich. He was in town visiting and was shopping at the Syracuse CVS. He has a stepdaughter who is a senior at Wawasee and, even though he now lives in Michigan, attended a couple Wawasee games this season.

"I only got to two games this year. One of them, unfortunately, was Concord, their only loss," Trosper said. "But I've been following them on TV and reading articles about them."

The "good kids" sentiment was echoed by Trosper.

"They're really just a fantastic group of kids. The neat thing about them is how they all pull together as a team. I think it's their faith that makes them strong. When you see them interviewed, they talk about that, and I think that's the neat thing about this team," he said.

After a football game on Saturday, Syracuse will be home to a state championship football team or a state runner-up.

Either way, the town will have been indelibly stamped and united by the success of a group of hard-working high school kids. [[In-content Ad]]