LINESVILLE — Five years after its demise, the ghost of the French Creek Valley Conference still haunts Crawford County. Anyone that thinks otherwise wasn’t at Linesville High School for Friday’s heroic battle between the Saegertown and Linesville football teams.

Last night’s game — won by Saegertown in overtime 41-35 — was, in a way, an inconvenience for both sides. Saegertown and Linesville are embroiled in a couple heated races in their respective regions. Saegertown is fighting for a Region 2 championship. And Linesville is aiming for a title in Region 1.

Yet in Week 7, both teams had to step away from those races to play a non-conference opponent in a regular season game that, in the larger scheme of things, means little more than a win or loss in the overall column.

“Here we are, we’ve got three of our big region games coming up and here comes this big game — how do you approach this,” said Saegertown head coach Ken Achenbach after the game.

Last night’s contest will have no impact on either team’s championship aims. There will be no plaque for the winning school’s trophy case, no new banner in the gym, no Gatorade shower for the winning coach. 

Not that you could tell all that by what took place on Linesville’s football field. It certainly wasn’t evident in the 22 spent bodies on that gridiron, or in the fluttering hearts of the hundreds upon hundreds of fans wreathed around it.

This game, despite those almost innocuous circumstances, ended up being one of THOSE kinds of games — a knock-down, drag-out thing of beauty.

“That was one of the most awesome games I’ve ever been in,” said Saegertown senior running back Ian Price. “I will always remember that game.”

Why? Because the ghost still lingers.

These two teams were a part of something, the French Creek Valley Conference, for 23 seasons. Five years ago, when District 10 first reorganized into regions, that ended. None of the kids on the field last night have ever played in an FCVC varsity contest.

Yet, as time wound down last night, those kids found themselves involved in something that felt much bigger, much more vital, than a simple non-conference game. And it’s likely they didn’t quite get the reason why, but rather sensed it like some deep-rooted animal instinct — this is huge.

Even Pat Gould, Linesville’s head coach, had trouble explaining it by the end of the night.

“I don’t know it’s ... you know ... we’re both competitive in the area,” he said. “It’s more or less for bragging rights for the local area. We’re both from different regions, but ... you know ... it’s just an old league thing.”

After the game, coach Achenbach somehow ended up with a game ball.

“I don’t know why I got it,” he said.