They say that if you want to see community pride, then go to a high school football game in the coal mining towns of Pennsylvania or Ohio. On any given Friday or Saturday night, the entire community comes out to watch "their boys" take on the cross town rival. The stands are filled with fans and with community pride. Win or lose, the community supports their home town heroes.

This past fall, Mineola was treated to an exciting season of high school football as the Mustangs of Mineola High School earned their pride and support. They were finally noticed and mentioned in the Newsday pre-season poll. Some of the players were even featured as "players to watch." But the Mustangs quietly went about their business of getting ready for the season. The coaches knew they had a talented squad this year. After all, the team was nearly half seniors. They had size; they had speed; they had power. They had earned the respect of their opponents from last season.

Well, after an exciting season that saw the Mustangs beat perennial powerhouse Garden City on opening day, the Mustangs made it to the Nassau County playoffs for the first time in 10 years. They had a few bumps along the road, but they showed the league they belonged in the playoffs with a strong finish.

On Sunday, Nov. 14, the Mustangs were pitted against a powerful team from Glen Cove. In the first six minutes, the Mustangs trailed by a score of 13-0. But an amazing thing happened. The defense that had played so well all year shut down Glen Cove for the remainder of the game, and the offense made excellent adjustments at halftime to come back and score 28 unanswered points. The fans were wild with excitement. High fives were exchanged from two and three rows away. Chants of "De-fense, De-fense" filled the stands as the Mustangs rolled to an impressive 28-13 win.

In the preseason article in Newsday, the reporter commented that the regular season game between Mineola and Garden City could very well be a preview of the teams who would be in the county championship. How did he know?

Yes, Mineola would play Garden City for the championship. News spread fast through the Mineola community. Seniors canceled college visits, parents changed their plans, alumni were notified through the proverbial AOL pipeline and Mineola football fans far and wide knew what they were doing on Saturday night, Nov. 20, 1999. All week long, this fan and many others sensed the importance of this game.

Game day came. Mineola was the higher seed so they were given the home field advantage at the beautiful new Hofstra Stadium. Some of us arrived early only to find that the stands were already filling up with football fans. It wasn't long before a large crowd had assembled. Students, teachers, alumni, community leaders and district administration were all there.

I was especially pleased and proud to meet two very special alumni, Don and Greg Vazuez, who were there with their wives. Greg was celebrating his anniversary and Don came in from Smithtown to watch the game. Ordinary fans, you might presume, but not necessarily so. You see, Don played quarterback for Mineola from 1946 to 1949 and his brother Greg was his blocking guard from 1947 to 1950. Don told me that he was the first Mineola quarterback to play from the T-formation, and in his senior year they went 5-3. Greg still lives in the community and is a retired Nassau County police officer who worked with Coach Dan Guido's father when he was the police commissioner.

As the game went on, you could hear these two guys urging the Mustangs on, probably remembering their own football careers. When the rain came, they never moved. These were real fans. Proud Mineola High School alumni! I was proud to spend the evening with them. Thanks guys.

Well, the game didn't have the storybook ending we had all hoped for. The Mustangs played well for most of the game, but were plagued by turnovers. They also had difficulty containing Garden City running back John Maloney. Despite the final 27-0 outcome, we were proud of "our boys."

The stands were packed with probably the largest crowd ever to watch a Mineola football game. Over 3,000 fans were theireto root for their team, and I must admit that the Mineola fans outnumbered the Garden City contingent. Yes, the whole community came out to support their high school football team. Sort of like in coal country or the Midwest. Even Don and Greg were there because "their boys" gave us all something to be proud of.