For Vic, For Whiting: One Community, One Family, One Season, United

For Vic, For Whiting: One Community, One Family, One Season, United

It’s easy to find a story in the Whiting Oilers’ upcoming IHSAA Semi-State Football game against Woodlan. After all, there’s a million beautifully crafted storylines that exist on the surface.

There’s the movie script, “Hoosiers” storyline of a town and a team on the brink of giving up in the 80s, the outsider coming in to save the day, and in turn transforming a program and a town. Only to leave the program some years later in the hands of his protégé who would continue upon the legacy he built.

That is happening this Saturday. It’s known by now that Sherwood Haydock, former Whiting Oilers Football Head Coach is returning to Whiting as the Head Coach of Woodlan and squaring off against his former Defensive Coordinator, and now Whiting Head Coach, Jeff Cain.

That’s a beautiful storyline.

Then there’s the “Rocky”-esque storyline of the tough, blue-collar town, and a team that is reflection of the name Whiting that sits metaphorically humble in size across the front of the jersey.

That, too, is the truth about Whiting’s Semi-State journey, and a beautiful storyline in itself.

But there’s one storyline that I witnessed with my own eyes that isn’t as talked about, and that happened on one of the coldest, rainiest days this season in early October. A day when I saw an entire community, together, huddled in a building off Whihala Beach celebrating the too-soon lost life of Coach Vic Sahagun.

The #DoItForVic movement is oft talked about but what isn’t is just how powerful this rallying cry has become, and how much it has brought the very essence of this tight-knit, familial community to the surface.

The “Whiting Experience” of community and unity, strength in togetherness, is that unlike any other, and this Saturday the whole state will get to feel the power of many becoming one.

“This is kind of what I had always envisioned,” Head Coach Cain said about the community and the moment this Saturday. “It’s a vision that I had continuously worked towards to. And it just feels nice to know we have a really special community here."

A community, together, celebrating an opportunity that would have never been this special had it not been for the trials they had been through and the togetherness of a team and community it has created along the way.

“We have had a lot of great coaches and great players who have built this program to where it is today,” added Cain. “Every year it has been one thing or another, but now it feels good to have a year like this where everything has come together like this.”

Come together, Whiting has, for Vic, for the City of Whiting, and for every single member of this community that feels more like a family; that makes the “Whiting Experience” the greatest home-field advantage a team could ever had.

And for Senior and Captain, Rudy Becerra, and for his teammates current and past, this one’s for the loving legacy of a former coach and everything he represented that makes the Whiting Experience what it is.

“This one’s for Vic. He’s motivated us to get this far. We’re a family; we’re doing this one together.”