“Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.”

But Lombardi never meant what he said the way many assume he did. In fact, he expressed regret that he said it at all because it did not convey what he really believed. What Lombardi said he meant was that if a player and/or team puts every bit of effort, belief and focus into pursuing victory then they have won.

Well, Muncy won really big this season.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Muncy’s Dominick Guardini (8) brings down Bishop Guilfoyle’s Braden Reilly (3) as he steps into the end zone during a PIAA Class A semifinal game at Hubert H. Jack Stadium in Lock Haven on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024.

Although Bishop Guilfoyle ended Muncy’s historic season Friday night at Lock Haven University’s Hubert Jack Stadium, winning the Class A semifinal, 21-6, the Indians again did Lombardi proud. Sure, there were plays Muncy wishes it had made that it did not, but that’s sports and it happens.

But what Muncy players and coaches can do now is look at the man in the mirror and know he did everything possible to reach Thursday’s state final. This journey began last winter and, whether in the weight room, at clinics, at practice or on game nights, Muncy left its heart on the field every time.

No doubt, losing sucks. It’s a gut punch for a competitor. But when can look back and know that he emptied his tank going after victory it dulls the pain. At least it should for Muncy because this team did all it could to extend the season as far as it could possibly go.

“It goes back to our kids. They play with heart, and they play with passion,” Muncy coach Sean Tetreault said. “They played with the attitude that we deserve to be here, and they were not going to leave a doubt about that. They played so hard, and I can’t thank them enough.”

Neither can the fans. They showed up in droves when it was hot and humid in August and continued being a force when the cold and win made one’s face hurt and toes numb.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Muncy’s Landyn Wommer (12) is brought down by Bishop Guilfoyle’s Chase Kissell during a PIAA Class A semifinal game at Hubert H. Jack Stadium in Lock Haven on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024.

Sure, everyone loves a winner, but I believe what they loved more was watching this team compete. Personally, that was one of my favorite takeaways when watching Muncy play this year. This was a close-knit team which overcame obstacles, whether it was injuries or heartbreaking defeats, and kept moving forward as one.

They were led by a dedicated group of seniors who won a record 42 games as well as four league titles, a district championship and two state tournament games. Again, though, it was not that they achieved all that as much as it was how they did so.

“Kenny Hampe starting on the o-line as freshman is unheard of. Austin Johnson starts as a freshman and goes over 1,000 yards every year. Stiles Eyer stepping in for his cousin (Branson) and going over 1,000 yards two years in a row … You can go right down the line with this group of seniors,” Tetreault said. “Cam Kamerer coming back from injuries, Paxton Derr doing anything and everything we ask of him … all these seniors have been the heart and soul of this team the last four years, and they left a legacy that’s going to be hard to live up to.”

This was a team as selfless as it was talented. There were headliners like generational running back Johnson, as well as all-state candidates Landyn Wommer, Hampe, Eyer and Kamerer but football is the ultimate team game, and every player had his fingerprints upon the team’s success.

And it didn’t matter what one’s name was or what his role was. This team was all for one and one for all. They motivated each other, trusted each other, believed in each other and brought out the best in each other.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Muncy’s Austin Johnson is brought down by a pair of Bishop Guilfoyle defenders during a PIAA Class A semifinal game against Muncy at Hubert H. Jack Stadium in Lock Haven on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024.

Mix it all together and Muncy became the best team in program history. The Indians finished 12-3, setting a record for wins in a season, reaching their first Final 4 and becoming the second Muncy team to win league and district titles in the same year.

“When you take that field today, you’ve gotta lay that heart on the line, men. From the souls of your feet, with every ounce of blood you’ve got in your body, lay it on the line until the final whistle blows. And if you do that, if you do that, we cannot lose. We may be behind on the scoreboard at the end of the game but if you play like that we cannot be defeated” –Matthew McConaughey as Marshall coach Jack Lengyel in the film ‘We are Marshall.’

Muncy lived up to those words throughout this season and especially again Friday night. Playing a four-time state champion which routed powerhouse Westinghouse, 56-15 last Saturday, Muncy did not allow a second-half point. The Indians held Guilfoyle 23 points below its season average and to its lowest point total of the season.

Muncy also made a dramatic fourth quarter goal line stand after Guilfoyle had moved within inches of a touchdown. That determination helped Muncy win one of the most dramatic games in recent area history two weeks earlier when it edged Lackawanna Trail, 47-46 in the state tournament opener.

That game featured five lead changes and Lackawanna Trail went ahead with less than two minutes remaining. Unfazed, Muncy came racing down the field and Eyer’s 32-yard touchdown pass to Johnson, along with Johnson’s 2-point conversion put Muncy ahead to stay.

A week ago, it was Dominic Guardini symbolizing Muncy’s fight. Delone Catholic looked like it would score on a game-tying 72-yard touchdown pass as the receiver sprinted toward the end zone. Guardini, however, never surrendered, sprinted down the sideline, caught up and forced a fumble which Carter Feigles recovered before Muncy reversed the field and marched for a touchdown drive, highlighting its 41-17 win.

Pick a game and I guarantee you one will find similar examples of Muncy making repeated hustle plays. Plays that are not so much about scheme or ability but heart.

Guilfoyle won Friday’s state semifinal, but Muncy’s heart never stopped thumping.

“Well, I want you to understand something. To me, being perfect is not about that scoreboard out there. It’s not about winning. It’s about you and your relationship to yourself and your family and your friends.

Being perfect is about being able to look your friends in the eye and know that you didn’t let them down, because you told them the truth. And that truth is that you did everything that you could. There wasn’t one more thing that you could’ve done.

Can you live in that moment, as best you can, with clear eyes and love in your heart? With joy in your heart?

If you can do that gentleman, then you’re perfect.” –Billy Bob Thornton as Permian coach Gary Gaines in ‘Friday Night Lights.’

Take a bow, Muncy. Because this team is perfect.

–Masse may be reached at cmasse@sungazette.com. Follow him on Twitter at @docmasse