The Program: A season with Oakwood football in 2026, part VII
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Oct. 1—FITHIAN — Emotions for the Oakwood football program entering October are a whirlwind.
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Uncertainty. Frustration. Relief. Happiness.
Uncertainty because the Comets started this week not knowing if they would have a game to play. Oakwood was scheduled to host Hoopeston Area/Armstrong-Potomac this Friday night, but the Cornjerkers decided in mid-September to forfeit the rest of their season because of low numbers and injuries.
The same decision by Arcola at the onset of this week allowed the Comets to pick up a game. Another home game at Marty McFarland Field, too, but against a quality opponent since undefeated Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond (6-0) is coming to town for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday.
Frustration because the Comets aren't undefeated like ALAH.
Oakwood (3-3) enters the nonconference game that was added to their schedule late Monday afternoon on a three-game losing streak.
Relief because Alex Wallace is OK.
The Oakwood senior quarterback won't play this Friday night against ALAH, Comets coach Cameron Lee said on Wednesday, but he is recovering after sustaining a concussion on a scary play during last Friday night's 28-27 loss at Westville. Wallace had to be carted off Memorial Field in Westville on a stretcher and taken to a hospital for further evaluation.
Happiness because October is here. A month the Comets hope to continue playing well past their Oct. 16 regular-season finale at Salt Fork. A season full of preseason promise could still end up favorably if the close losses Oakwood has endured the last three Friday nights turn into critical victories the Comets savor like they did in late August and early September.
"This entire season has been so wonky," Lee said on Monday morning while waiting to hear word if his team would play this week. "This season has just really kept me on my toes as a coach. From where are we practicing to are we practicing to where is this game to will there be a game.
"Then, it's, hey, we're playing really well. Now, we're not. There's just a lot to process. This sounds super cliche, but I'm quite literally taking it one day at a time."
Once Hoopeston Area/A-P announced it was stopping its season, Lee and Oakwood athletic director Richard Vetter started scouring to see if they could find a possible opponent in a short amount of time.
The few they could find who would have had an open date didn't seem interested in playing the Comets, who were undefeated at that juncture on the calendar and ranked among the Top 10 teams in Class 1A in the weekly Illinois Media statewide poll.
Oakwood seemed poised to accept a forfeit win this week. Lee said on Monday morning he typically sends out that week's plans to his team at the start of the week. This week?
"I just put TBD all over it," Lee said.
Then, those plans changed and now Oakwood is prepping for an ALAH team that is the likely Lincoln Prairie Conference champion after the Knights beat Sullivan 56-34 last Friday night to hand Sullivan its first loss. The Comets have shown they can compete against good teams this season. They just haven't finished off wins in close games, with their three losses against Dwight, Clifton Central and Westville coming by a combined 12 points. Dwight, Clifton Central and Westville are a combined 15-3 this season.
"These are the types of games that we are playing right now that I wish we were able to see over multiple seasons or maybe throughout an entire season and not just in a three-game stretch," Lee said. "We've played three very good football teams and we've played in three very good football games. These are the kinds of games that raise your program. We have the opportunity, and I'm trying to view it as that, as a team that's worthy of getting everyone's best shot. That's a privilege. We have to do a better job of not beating ourselves. We've made too many mistakes at critical times, and that's the jump you have to make to be a great program and not just a good program."
Making sure the Comets' program is sustainable not only for this season, but future seasons, is another priority for Lee.
Oakwood has an enrollment of 208 students this school year. The Comets have 33 players on the football team.
Lee, a 2012 Oakwood graduate, said when he joined the Comets' football program as a freshman in 2008, the Comets' roster featured almost 75 players. Granted, Oakwood had a co-op with Armstrong-Potomac at the time and Oakwood's enrollment was closer to 300 than 200.
"I feel like on any given day, I'm trying to simultaneously focus on Friday night and how do we win this game, but I've also got to win the hallways, too," Lee said. "I've got to be thinking about next season and the year after that."
Oakwood has 10 seniors this season. Most are multi-year contributors, like Wallace, running back/linebacker Kyler Johnson and offensive lineman/defensive lineman Walker Enos to name a few. So is Carsen Dudley.
But the senior wide receiver and linebacker, who has contributed to the Oakwood boys' basketball team since his freshman season, didn't play football in 2025. Opted to play golf instead after getting injured playing football as a sophomore. What brought him back to football?
"I felt since it was my last year, I wanted to spend it with my friends," Dudley said. "With golf, you can have a lot of fun and you can relax. If you're timid playing golf, you're going to play horrible. With football, you've got to be locked in. You've got to expect yourself to do something good in every play with football."
The 6-foot-4, 190-pound Dudley also sees benefits from football translate onto the basketball court in the winter.
"If someone is pushing me around in basketball, I'm not going to move around as much," Dudley said, "because football helps me get stronger for basketball."
Lee has mentioned several times this season the need for his players to have fun playing football, too.
"Back in the day with 1A football and even when I was playing, there were full teams in 1A," Lee said in mid-July. "We're teetering now with teams to where, 'Hey, we're not very good,' to, 'Hey, we're not going to play football anymore.' That's a scary place to be. Our game is in danger."
Enos is responsible for creating lanes for Johnson to run through for touchdowns or for Wallace to step into this throws. This week, junior Riglee Hart will start at quarterback for the Comets after he filled in admirably last Friday night at Westville in relief of Wallace.
Enos does have his hands on the ball for every Oakwood offensive play since he is the Comets' center, but knowing what it feels like to score a touchdown on Friday night isn't one he's familiar with.
Which is why he enjoys Thursday practices.
"Before practice, we try to have some fun before we lock in," Enos said. "Thursdays are our walkthrough day, and that's probably my favorite day of the week because some of us will go and play different positions. I'll be a wide receiver or throw the ball if I want to. It's what keeps players coming back. If there's no reward, then there's no reason to be here. That's part of the reward, along with, of course, winning."
All the challenging moments and adversity the Comets have dealt with this season will be put to the test in October. Oakwood only has four playoff wins in its program history and has never played beyond the state quarterfinals.
The tests of the first two months, however, give Lee optimism for what's to come this month. One example that didn't have anything to do with a player scoring a touchdown or making a big defensive play from last Friday night's loss at Westville stood out.
With Wallace motionless on the turf at Memorial Field and most of the Comets taking a knee while medical personnel tended to Wallace, Oakwood junior running back/linebacker Frankie Resendez ran to the stretcher and helped pull it toward Wallace.
"In that moment, there was so much chaos and uncertainty," Lee said. "To see Frankie have the initiative or just the will or desire to do the right thing to help, I thought it was really impressive. I don't know that I would have done that. I don't know how to convey what I felt when that game was over because there were so many emotions that night from our players, from our fans and from me. But I was so impressed and encouraged by our team with the way they stuck it out. They weren't blaming anyone. We were exhausted and frustrated, but we were together as a team."