Seven days before the Division 6 football state championship game, West Catholic got a victory that was better than what will be on the line Friday in downtown Detroit.
Senior holder Jacob Radlinski announced he was cancer-free.
"It was pretty exciting," Radlinski said. "It was good news for everyone and everyone at the hospital was excited, and then I came home to my family, team and everyone else excited too. It was a good day."
"All the victories we've had this year, and still will get, that one means the most," first year Falcons head coach Landon Grove said. "I got goosebumps talking about it right now."
Radlinski was a wide receiver and outside linebacker for West prior to his diagnosis. He was cleared to hold for extra points and field goals prior to the start of the season.
His entire team and the West Catholic community wrapped their arms around him during his cancer journey.
"I knew that this team was by my side and had my back," Radlinski said. "But to see it and have everyone by my side and to support, it has been great."
They were able to remove the tumor in his chest with chemotherapy, and he will still have frequent checkups, but the belief is the chances are very low that the cancer will return.
"His strength throughout all of this has been admirable," Grove said. "I don't know a stronger human being in this world than that kid. Going through chemo, going through what he has been going through this year, and he still comes to practice with a smile on his face."
A day after Radlinski's good news, he and his Falcons teammates out beat Clinton to clinch a spot in this week's Division 6 state championship game at Ford Field.
"It's one great think on top of another," Radlinski said. "It's really exciting, words can really describe it. To have one really good thing happen on top of another, it's really exciting."
As much as his teammates have helped him get through a really tough time, he has inspired them to accomplish great things on the field.
"It has been a really good perspective changer for myself as a young person and then for our kids, and really our whole community as to what is really important" Grove said. "Being able to always remind ourselves, if we think it is hard to work hard at football, remember what our boy is going through right now."
West Catholic has won six state championships in football since 2010, but this will be the Falcons' first trip to the title game since 2017, when the current seniors were in seventh grade.
"Nobody in this room has done it before," Radlinski said. "To bring it back and to experience it ourselves, I know us as a senior class, we start off as freshman and built up every year since that, to finally be back at Ford Field feels great."
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