To many of the former athletes and coaches who attended Ovey Comeaux High over the past five decades, the words are hard to digest.
But the reality is it's very possible Friday's home game against the Westgate Tigers will be the final football game in the history of Comeaux High.
"It certainly is sad," said Ruthie Dugal, who coached basketball, volleyball and softball there for 28 years.
"To me, it's crazy," said former coach and student Keith Bergeron. "I graduated there, I coached there, my kids went to school there ... it's unthinkable to be honest with you."
UL women's basketball coach Garry Brodhead is a 1975 graduate of Comeaux and he couldn't believe it when he heard the news.
"That really stinks," Brodhead said. "I'm getting the chills just talking about it. My wife and I both went there, man. That's a shame. That's not good to hear."
'Why do you want to close Comeaux?'
These days, things are not real pleasant for the Spartans. The football program is riding a 30-game losing streak and the school may very well be shut down with a 31-game streak that could never be erased.
"I think they should leave the school open," former Spartans' running back Dwight Lindon said. "Comeaux has always been a great school, and it is in a great area."
Lindon was a central figure from a successful time in the program's history. Lindon literally carried the Spartans to the program's first state playoff win -- a 35-28 road win over St. Amant in 2000.
"It was heartbreaking to hear that they wanted to close down Comeaux," said Lindon, who rushed for over 2,000 yards with 21 touchdowns in his senior season. "I was offshore when I first heard about it. My question is, why do you want to close Comeaux?
"The school has been a B school and possibly may be an A school. What is more important? Academics or athletics? The school system needs to just tell us what the issue is and what do they need to see for us to keep the school open? Just give us a chance."
Famous names
While Comeaux's football history isn't as prolific as some of its longtime parish rivals, so many famous names were Spartans.
In football, there have been some special receiving stars from tight end Calvin James in the 1970s to Brandon Stokley in the 1990s to the recent standouts Malik Nabers and Tre' Harris.
Hall of Fame softball coach Yvette Girouard played volleyball there.
In baseball, such standouts as Corey Coles and Michael Strentz went on to leave big marks on UL's baseball program.
For decades, Comeaux High was the mecca in the Acadiana area for wrestling. The athletic department also produced state tournament-level teams in basketball and softball, as well as cross country.
In October, a strategic planner hired to help the Lafayette Parish School System assess facilities and programs amid declining enrollment announced as part of its proposed plan that it thought Comeaux should be closed.
If that recommendation is passed at the Nov. 20 school board meeting, however, Friday's football game will kick off a school year of closing ceremonies for every sport.
It doesn't take away the wonderful memories
Former baseball player and head football coach Brian Langlinais chooses not to be bitter over the likely development.
Langlinais enjoyed many of the triumphant moments in the program's football history. He was the head coach for the only Comeaux team to win a home playoff game in 2005 and was an assistant on that breakthrough 2000 club.
"Look, it doesn't take away the wonderful memories that we've had in the past," Langlinais said. "We've had some great memories and some great athletes and that doesn't go away."
Current Lafayette High head coach Garrett Kreamer was a big part of some of those memories as the starting quarterback for the Spartans' memorable upset of state finalist Acadiana High in 2007.
"Yes, that was obviously a big win for us, that time we beat Acadiana," Kreamer said. "But really for me, what I remember most is just good times in the locker room with my teammates at practice and at school. Really just hanging out with all my friends that I'm still close with today. We still go back and laugh about fun times or jokes said in the locker room ... our coaching staff was always making us laugh.
"Those are bittersweet memories that I'll always cherish and never forget. I had a great high school career and loved Comeaux High."
Lack of foresight?
For 1984 Comeaux High graduate Bergeron, however, the possibility of shutting the school down is much harder to accept.
"I just don't know if there's any school board members fighting for the school," he said. "When David Thibodaux came and they were thinking about closing down Northside High School, Northside had a school board member that fought for them. Comeaux just doesn't have that voice right now on the school board."
In Bergeron's mind, it was a lack of foresight that led to Southside High being built and destroying Comeaux High's future.
"Those school board members did not have the vision to realize how much charter schools were going to affect that area," Bergeron said. "There was really no need to build Southside High School, because the charter schools were going to take care of overcrowding."
Moreover, Bergeron wonders what unforeseen curve balls the future could hold, like the concept of independent school districts already utilized around the state.
"What's going to happen with Carencro or Scott or Youngsville or Broussard says, 'Hey, we want to keep our money in the school and not be put into overhead' and decide they want to form an independent school district?" he added. "I hope they have the vision to realize these things, because if this happens to some other places, you may need Comeaux High down the road.
"I hope they really, really think about this before they make this decision. The last company they listened too thought they needed a new high school and that didn't work out very well. Now you're talking about closing down a school. I know the last school board members didn't think very well. Let's hope these school board members think a little bit better."