Argonauts play their hearts out until the end

COSTA MESA - So this is how it ended...

With the coach saying "You have nothing to cry about" to a group of football players crying.

With the kid whose brother died, grabbing one of the seniors by the face mask and telling him "I love you."

With the team that had suffered the most dramatic loss in Orange County this season suffering its only loss this season.

In the rain.

In the cold.

In the end.

Garden Grove High's run is over, with 13 victories, a defeat in the CIF-Southern Section final and a lifetime now to remember Kevin Telles.

"He would be heartbroken, just like they are, but he'd be proud," Telles' brother, Robert, said. "I can't explain how proud I am of these guys. This isn't over. This is just the start for them. They have their whole lives left."

The Argos lost to La Mirada, 49-27, at Orange Coast College, concluding an improbable playoff push that began a month ago and an unlikely near-perfect season that started Sept. 11, the night Telles collapsed in a game against Westminster and later died.

Before the start of the fourth quarter Friday, the Garden Grove players, cheerleaders and fans held up four fingers with one hand and five with the other and, in sing-song style, chanted "4-5, 4-5, 4-5."

Telles wore No. 45.

"They're tough, Garden Grove kids," Coach Joe Hay said. "That's who they are. When Friday night comes, they know what to do."

They led this game at one point, 21-7. But they lost their punter, quarterback and one of their key skill players — all by the middle of the second quarter.

The others returned but, shortly before halftime, quarterback Sean Young left the stadium ... in an ambulance.

By the end, even as they were scoring a last-minute touchdown despite having no chance to win, the Argos simply had lost too much.

Five hours before kickoff Friday, Hay stood in his classroom, in front of his players. Most of them were dressed in red ties bearing the Garden Grove "G." Some were wearing red Van's tennis shoes and red baseball caps, backward.

Sitting on a table nearby was a photo of Telles, from last season, with long, bushy hair, looking similar to the player who was his favorite, Troy Polamalu. Now in the NFL with Pittsburgh, Polamalu was born in Garden Grove and attended USC.

After Telles' death, Hay's wife, Nicole, wrote a letter to Polamalu, sharing the story. A couple weeks later, a photo of Polamalu arrived at Garden Grove High. It was autographed and included this inscription:

"In memory of Kevin Telles #45. May his memory be eternal."

Now, here was Hay, talking about what awaited the Argos. On the white board behind him was written "Playing For," with seven things listed below.

"Community" and "School" were there, so were "History" and "Yourself." Listed first, though, "Kevin Telles."

"You'll never forget this time," Hay told his players. "You'll never forget each other. This will be ingrained in your brain forever. Enjoy it. Enjoy it."

Then the Argos moved to the school cafeteria for the team's pregame meal — Subway sandwiches, Doritos, Oreos and Gatorade.

There was a piano in the corner of the room. Before long, players were sitting in front of it. One of them began fingering the chorus of "Lean On Me."

"If I lose it on the sidelines, it's because I'm passionate and I want to win," Hay said to the group. "Don't take it personal. Just know my heart is with you."

A half hour later, the Argos gathered again, this time on their patchy field for the final walk-through of the season. Just outside the locker room, hung a poster of Telles. As the players headed for the field, some touched Telles' face.

The scene was deep and poignant, but the scene was high school, too. Each player was dressed in his game pants and jersey. One of them wore black dress shoes. Another, in his knee-high socks, had tucked a package of Skittles.

This Garden Grove season took on the theme of a single player, but it never stopped being about an entire team. When the Argos would huddle at the conclusion of practice, they would break with "1, 2, 3 ... Family" or "1, 2, 3 ... Togetherness."

They hugged a lot and cried plenty — "And I mean tear cry," Hay said. They shared a time that was awfully significant and an experience that could not have been more significant.

"I use the word love because I love these guys like family," Hay explained before the playoff run began. "We are a family, and we lost one of our brothers. There might be teams with better athletes, but I don't think there's a team that bonded better."

The Argos bonded well enough to extend their football season as far as it could go. Now, they only have forever to remember it all.