In the visiting stands at Cuyahoga Heights this Friday, Betsy Stretar of Independence will have plenty of shoulders to cry on.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Everyone who's ever had anyone in their family play high school sports knows who suffers most during games. It's Mom.
Across Ohio this weekend, thousands of moms will watch sons play their final high school football game. Some will weep, and the tears will be spiced with pride, sadness and, surely, relief.
In the visiting stands at Cuyahoga Heights this Friday, Betsy Stretar of Independence will have plenty of shoulders to cry on, which she says she won't do. With moms, you never know until that heavy moment arrives.
Betsy and her husband, Frank, will send the youngest of their eight children, Sam, out against rival Cuyahoga Heights. All five of their boys played football and two of their three girls were athletes at Independence. The Stretar siblings have combined to win 21 conference championships.
For the first and only time, they all will gather from across the country to watch Sam play. Sam, a hard-nosed senior quarterback and defensive back, leads an 8-1 Independence team that needs to beat the Redskins (8-1) to win the conference title and earn a playoff berth.
"It's going to be bittersweet, kind of the end of the era," says Independence QB Sam Stretar, the last of his family to play for the Blue Devils.His brother, Todd, 32, who is in the Navy, is coming from California; Jake, 26, is coming from Florida; Frank, 24, from Connecticut; and Brad, 22, from Arizona. Sisters Grace, 29, Carrie, 28, and Hannah, 20, all live in Ohio.
Betsy said this is an opportunity to reflect and celebrate, not mourn.
"I want this to be more of a celebration of the positive effects that football, the program and the community have had on our kids because they're all doing really great in life," she said. "You raise them, and I don't want to hold on to my kids. I want to see them take the discipline and the values they learned on the field and go out and make a difference. Go find a strength and passion, and use it to make a difference in the lives of other people.
"We tell them it's not about you. We're here for a bigger purpose. That to me makes the closure all the more sweet."
Not that they have to be told, but Frank, who is an Independence assistant coach, has reminded his other kids Sam will need to focus on football until Friday night is over. Much of Independence's game plan centers on Sam, who has 22 touchdowns passing and rushing and 2,633 total yards.
Football has been part of Sam's identity since the day he was born. Named for close family friend and former Browns coach Sam Rutigliano, Sam said he will stay true to concentrating on football this week, but admits it won't be easy, especially when it comes to his mother and siblings in the stands.
"That's tough to think about because I was the water boy for my brothers and was able to see all their senior years, and witness all the emotion that comes out of your last game," he said. "It's going to be sad for me, but hopefully we will be celebrating on the field, and at the Stretar house this weekend.
"I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be bittersweet, kind of the end of the era, but there's going to be a lot of good to come out of this."
Sam might be the end of this line of Stretars, but there is another generation in the offing. His sister, Carrie Sciano and her husband, Jason, recently welcomed a baby boy, Dominic Sciano.
There's just one problem.
They live in Cuyahoga Heights.