A mandatory meeting for all Rantoul Township High School football players interested in playing next fall was held on Feb. 14 after school.

Shane Carter addressed the group gathered in the RTHS cafetorium in one of his final acts as the Eagles head football coach.

Carter resigned on Friday after learning last week he would not receive enough votes from the school board to reappoint him as head coach in 2012. Carter went 7-29 in four seasons, including 1-8 in 2011, and the news left several of his players shocked, stunned and surprised.

“Tuesday was sad,” said Cord Church, a junior wide receiver who caught 29 passes for 513 yards and five touchdowns last season. “We loved him as a coach. He was a good coach. It just sucks losing him as a coach.”

Carter had to pause while collecting himself Friday to describe what the meeting was like for him. Many of his players had the same reaction when informed the Eagles would have a new head coach for the 2012 season.

“It’s pretty shocking,” said Seth Wilson, an RTHS senior who played on the offensive and defensive lines this season after starting since his sophomore season. “We had a bad couple seasons the past couple years, and we probably could have made it to (the playoffs) my sophomore and junior year with the talent we had. We just never finished games.”

Terry Deaville, the Eagles’ starting quarterback the last two seasons, said he felt for Carter upon hearing of his situation.

“At first, I didn’t understand why,” Deaville said. “I know he’s done everything in his power to get everybody to where we are now. He’s worked hard up until this point. Hopefully next year they’ll have a good season and just see what they can do next year.”

Chris Deaville, a junior wide receiver who set a single-season mark for receptions in a season (37) along with 529 yards and four touchdowns catching passes from his older brother Terry in 2011, still seemed shocked a few days after the meeting on Feb. 14.

Chris Deaville wasn’t at the meeting, and said he found out before the RTHS boys basketball game against Bloomington Central Catholic.

“It ruined a little bit of my night,” Chris Deaville said. “He’s grown on me, and I’ve got a connection with him.”

While Terry Deaville and Wilson will move on to play college football at McKendree, Chris Deaville and Church — both also started on defense last year — will have to adjust to a new head coach for their final prep football season.

“It’s going to be pretty hard not knowing who the coach is going to be and adjusting to someone totally new to the program, but you’ve got to forget about the past and a new season,” Chris Deaville said. “Hopefully good things will happen.”

And, as Church and Chris Deaville said, hopefully more players turn out for next year’s team. The Eagles dressed roughly 30 players for each varsity game this season. RTHS’ enrollment is 756.

“I’d say the more people we have, the better,” Chris Deaville said. “It’s only going to help us in the long run. I think that most people don’t come out because of our reputation. It frustrates me because we don’t have as many people as other teams, so most people have to play on both sides of the ball and special teams. We all got wore out.”
mdaniels@rantoulpress.com