Dee-Mack football helps the community start healing after loss of beloved 9-year-old

MACKINAW — Adrian Zehr got his Dee-Mack varsity football jersey Friday, the one he'd told his brother Carter and his mother Lydia and all his JFL teammates he would wear on Jim McDonald Field someday.

His mother and brother accepted it for him, because Adrian is on Heaven's roster now. The 9-year-old was killed in mid-July when he was hit by a car while crossing a road amid the small town's summer festival.

No one in Mackinaw has been the same since. But Deer Creek-Mackinaw played its first football home game of the new season Friday, a gritty, no-frills 16-0 defensive battle won against a very good team from Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley.

'Joyful, bright eyes': Services set for 9-year-old Mackinaw boy struck by car

Players writhed on the field fighting cramps and hard knocks from heavy hits. But they knew their pain was insignificant to that felt by Lydia Zehr, who was looking on.

"He was 5-foot-1, wore a size 10 double-wide men's shoe, had a smile even bigger and dreamed with no limits," she said of her son. "He wanted to be an architect. He was determined to be a basketball player in the NBA. And he said he wanted to wear No. 81 on the football team, because 81 was a number he could use for years at any level he played at.

"He had it all planned out. The hardest thing is not just that he's gone. It's the loss of his future, the loss of everything he was going to be and never seeing that."

'The greatest pitcher ever'

The Chiefs football team had a game to play on the field, and a role to play off it with the community — healer.

"I think one thing we saw was how much the whole community misses Adrian," Dee-Mack coach Cody Myers said. "You could feel the emotion tonight. People are hurting. But you could feel everyone coming together."

At 6:50 p.m. the Dee-Mack varsity players entered the field, cheerleaders and kids lining the way.

Wing-back/linebacker/safety senior Tyce Albritton stood alongside, at her right elbow, and later stood tall with a relentless 11-yard TD run that produced the only points Dee-Mack needed.

The town's JFL program followed along, players in full gear, including the team Adrian Zehr played on.

They stood together near midfield and presented Zehr's mother and brother with a framed No. 81 jersey.

"I coached the JFL team Adrian was on," Albritton said. "We had a game close to when he died. We won it, and he was so happy. I thank God for that moment.

"His brother, Carter, is always around us, in the weight room, at practices, and on the sideline at games like he was tonight. He's part of us, just like Adrian was."

'I have narcolepsy': Morton senior captain balances sleep disorder with school and football

Carter Zehr is 11, and he's going to play on a JFL 12-under team next year.

"I taught Adrian how to put his pads on," he said. "I taught him how to do a three-point stance. We'd put our equipment on and play in the yard. He was always talking about basketball, too.

"That's all I want to say, because if I go on I won't be able to smile anymore."

Lydia Zehr, 30, alternately smiled, teared up, and spoke later, voice cracking with emotion.

"I knew this was going to be emotional," she said. "Knew it would be hard. I'm remembering the night he died, he was going to have baseball tryouts the next day and he was telling us he was going to be the greatest pitcher ever. … You know, the road he died on, he walked across that road with me and also on his own a hundred times. Never a problem. He was a careful, smart kid.

"One of my favorite pictures of him from football, he's running right at the camera. He was 5-1, 111 pounds, and not allowed to run the football because he was too big. But he knew his weight wouldn't matter in high school. So he was always practicing catching it and throwing it -- he had beautiful spirals.

"He was a kid who was always planning his future."

After the game was over, the team gathered on the sideline near their home grandstand and summoned Lydia and Carter to the field. They joined the huddle, she thanked the team, and they gathered for a picture together.

"This is a memory right here that I'll never forget," Zehr told the players. "It truly means the world to me. I appreciate all you guys."

Gibson City was a test

Dee-Mack players had "AZ" stickers on their helmets in memory of Adrian Zehr. They quickly turned to leaving their mark on Gibson City, despite the opponent's bigger line.

The Chiefs forced two fumbles and an interception on Gibson City's first three possessions. Another fumble should have been recorded when Albritton ripped the ball away from a Gibson City running back, but officials incorrectly ruled the runner was down and the play had ended.

The Chiefs got on the board at 11:10 of the second quarter when Albritton plowed 11 yards to the end zone, leaving a trail of broken tackles along the way. He followed that up moments later with a carry for a two-point conversion, and it was 8-0.

Week 2 football in Peoria: Recap and updates | Top performers | All the scores

Dee-Mack went up 16-0 with 9:53 left in the third quarter when quarterback Carson Cassady heaved a 53-yard TD strike down the right sideline to Dalton Burr.

Gibson City drove to the Dee-Mack 22 on the ensuing possession, but quarterback Brayden Elliott's pass on third-and-10 was picked off at the 1 by junior Chuck Hathaway and returned 41 yards.

Dee-Mack fumbled it away on the ensuing possession, but again its defense forced a punt to keep Gibson City off the board. In fact, the visitors' possessions for the game went like this: Fumble, INT, fumble, fumble on a punt snap, punt, punt, INT, downs, punt, downs.

"They were bigger up front than we were," Myers said. "But we played low and determined. We always seem to blow out teams we should beat, or come up just short against teams that should beat us.

"Tonight we said, 'Let's win one that no one thinks we will do well in.' And we did."

Earlier in the week, Myers was asked about the script for Friday.

"It's going to be emotional, hopefully fun," he said. "And by the end of the night, we'll have done something for the community and also know where we stand on the football field."

Community off the field and football team on it, where they stand is, together.

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Football helps heal Dee-Mack community after death of 9-year-old