Slippery Rock High football coach Glenn Hazlet entered the quiet of the Rockets' locker room early in the morning of Oct. 15.

He gathered up the belongings of senior lineman A.J. Rensel, who just hours earlier had lost his life in a one-car automobile accident, to take home to wash.

"It was very hard," Hazlet said. "It was hard going down there. That's when it sort of hit me."

The crash also claimed the life of Corey Jones and severely injured Kirk Hines and Rockets fullback Justin Angerett.

Later that day, Slippery Rock played a game against Meadville, which it lost, 35-6, but the score was moot. For the Rockets, it was therapeutic.

"It was couple of hours for us to get away from the real world," said senior quarterback and captain Ayron Gallagher.

For Meadville, it was a chance to show uncommon class.

Meadville players rarely celebrated after a big play, cognizant of the emotional state of their foe.

Gallagher said the Bulldogs were "nice the whole game. They were extremely classy."

After the game, Meadville players joined the Slippery Rock huddle on the field, sharing hugs, words of support and a prayer.

"You are not in this alone," Hazlet said, in the middle of the huddle. "You are a band of brothers."

On this day, there were no winners and losers on the football field, just human beings — some hurting and some trying to make it hurt less.

For Hazlet, a 64-year-old Navy veteran in his first season as a head football coach at the high school varsity level, it was another challenge to tackle with the ferocity of one of his linebackers.

He said he allowed himself to show emotion during that difficult Oct. 15 afternoon, but he's now trying to help his team rebound and move forward.

That's easier said than done for a man who wears his emotions on his sleeve.

"I've never been through this before," he said.

Unfortunately, the Slippery Rock community has. In 2001, eight Slippery Rock students died of illnesses and accidents.

The pain never fades.

This was just another reminder of how fleeting life can be — and how silly it is to fret over a loss on a football field on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night.

We tend to get so wrapped up in the successes and failures of athletic teams, particularly at the high school level, that we lose sight of the truly important things that can't be summed up on a scoreboard.

On that chilly mid-October nigh, the players got a lot more out of the game than first downs and touchdowns.

Gallagher, his eyes red and damp and lips quivering with emotion, spoke thoughtfully of the experience and what it meant to him and his team.

"We had to play this game," Gallagher said. "It needed to be done."

He showed courage and poise that belied his youth and the anguish he was bearing. His teammates did the same. And for that, they all should be saluted.