I got to drive down to Cahokia (just outside of St. Louis) for a high school quarterfinal playoff game between MacArthur and Cahokia Saturday. The drive felt like it took forever, but it wasn't as bad as standing in the freezing wind for a few hours.

MacArthur lost 31-6, but making it this far after a 2-7 season last year is pretty impressive.

The players, fans and coaches were all pretty emotional after the game. The coach had all of the seniors line up so that he (along with all of the other coaches, teammates and fans) could give them all hugs.

I'm still a huge fan of shooting high school sports over college or pro... sure, it's nice to do those things, but the access and emotion is completely different. For me, this was just another day at work. For some of these kids it was the last game they will ever play, the biggest day of their life (so far) or maybe something completely different. I'm sad to see any of our local teams lose, but I'm glad that I got to catch a small glimpse of this team's heart on the sidelines of a very cold football field.

• Generals' finish bittersweet (Herald & Review)