There is hope remaining for your favorite teams

This past weekend was a rivalry weekend of sorts in football, with Southeast facing Southern Illinois, Chaffee and Scott City facing off, and Perryville’s two high schools — St. Vincent and Perryville High School — pitted against each other. On the baseball front, St. Louis was taking on division rival Chicago Cubs in a pivotal three-game series.

And unless you were from Chaffee or a fan of the Perryville Pirates, it was a pretty disheartening weekend.

Southeast fell to 0-3 on the season with a 35-17 loss in the 85th meeting with its regional rival. The Cardinals saw their playoff hopes dimmed to a 2017 low with a sweep by the host Cubs at Wrigley field. Throw in a 35-3 loss to Purdue by winless Missouri, and it was a truly futile weekend for most of the local teams.

It was particularly frustrating for Scott City, which led by 14 points at halftime against its rival, saw an extra point blocked in overtime and lost a 35-34 thriller. For Red Devils fans, it was a banner weekend, enough to offset losses on the other fronts. After all, it’s the biggest game on both teams’ regular-season schedule.

Halfway into the high-school season and three games into the college schedule, teams are becoming more well defined. For Southeast, Mizzou and some high-school teams, it’s not the start they had envisioned when they began preparations long ago.

All high-school football teams still will get a shot at the playoffs, and the Redhawks, while winless, are unbeaten in the OVC. Southeast opens its Ohio Valley Conference schedule Saturday at Eastern Illinois, and a road win still can go a long way toward a successful campaign. Players and coaches are human, and it’s important they receive support. As fans, we can abandon the bandwagon or remain loyal and believe brighter days are ahead.

Even the Cardinals. Yes, it’s getting late and looking bleak, but if the 2011 World Championship season taught us anything, it’s that there’s always a chance until the final out.