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Jarod Leasure remembers his final high school football game, a game Warsaw lost 10-7 in the sectional semifinal to state power Penn.
Then came the pain of taking off his orange and black uniform for the final time.
Saturday, win or lose, Leasure will take off his blue and silver University of St. Francis uniform for the final time.
Leasure hopes his college career ends on a happier note than his prep career.
Leasure, a 2001 WCHS graduate, and William Knepper, a 2003 WCHS graduate, will suit up for St. Francis Saturday when the NAIA second-ranked Cougars battle No. 1 Carroll College of Montana for the national championship.
The game, which is scheduled to start at 1 p.m., will be played at Hardin County High School's Jim Carroll Stadium in Savannah, Tenn.
"This has been the best week of practice we've had," said the 6-foot-3, 341-pound Knepper, who has 49 tackles, five tackles for loss, two pass break-ups and a forced fumble for the Cougars this year. "Carroll is a great team, I don't want to take anything away from them, but we're expecting to win. We're not going to settle for just being there. We were there last year. We're going down there this year to win the championship."
Both teams enter Saturday's game, a rematch of last year's national championship game, with 13-0 records.
Carroll, which is seeking its fourth straight national title, beat St. Francis 15-13 last year after kicking a field goal with 10.8 seconds remaining in the game.
It was the only loss of the season for St. Francis, which has gone undefeated in the regular season four consecutive years.
In fact, in his three years as a starter on the offensive line, Leasure has only lost two games with the Cougars - last year's national championship game and a semifinal game to Carroll in 2003.
It goes without saying that Saturday's game, win or lose, will be filled with emotions for Leasure and the rest of the Cougars' senior class, a group that has taken the Cougar program to a higher level.
"I'm going in knowing that this is going to be the last time I put the pads on," said the 6-2, 273-pound Leasure, a two-time all-conference selection for the Cougars. "The only way I could play after this year would be in the NFL, and that's not going to happen. Knowing that it's going to be my last game, it's gotten to the point where it's affected the way I practice. Every snap, it's like a countdown, and my career is going to be over soon. I just want to go down there and finish what we should have last year."
While losing in the national championship game would be hard on the Cougars, Leasure says the hardest thing to deal with will be not playing anymore and not being around his teammates every day.
"Win or lose, it's going to break my heart," said Leasure. "We're all going to be moving on in life. That's the biggest thing. This is a great senior class. We're all very good friends off the field. And I'm glad I was a part of this. I don't know how many senior classes could say they never lost a game in the regular season. We've done a lot of great things, and what we've done probably won't sink in until I coach and experience a loss. We were good in high school, and now we've had this great run here, I go into every game expecting to win. That's how you have to be, you have to think you're going to win."
The St. Francis roster also includes North Manchester graduates Farron Gaerte Dustin Westafer and Whitko graduate Wes Renschler, all of whom are sophomores. Ryan Kauchak, a 2005 Wawasee graduate, is also on the St. Francis roster.
