Virginia high school football coach battling cancer as his team prepares for state title game
Photo via The Roanoke Times
High school football seasons are wrapping up all over the country. Thirty-eight states have crowned state champions and in 12 states, teams continue to navigate through the brackets in hopes of becoming champions.
Louisiana will crown state champions from nine different conferences, from today through Sunday. For one Class 4A team, this championship may be even more meaningful.
The Louisa County Lions have never won a football championship, and have only made one other trip to the championship game in 2005.
While the Lions have battled their way to an undefeated regular season (14-0), their head coach, Mark Fischer, has been fighting a battle of his own, off the field.
Fisher has multiple myeloma, a form of cancer, and the diagnosis is not good. After the season Fischer will resign.
“I was supposed to die in October,” Fischer told The Roanoke Times. “I’ve already turned in my resignation. I’m in chemotherapy two mornings a week, and I’m in dialysis six days a week.”
The team also suffered the loss of, Jaden Athey, a teammate who was killed earlier this year in a car accident. However, Athey is still part of the Lions; Fischer kept his name on the 2017 roster, and the team held his jersey in the team photo.
“He was just a great kid,” Fischer told the Times. “It was really tough because he was a cousin to two or three boys on the team.” adding “Last year our tailback lost his mom during a game to cancer. These kids have been through a lot.”
The team photo was missing another important person, — Fisher. In the preseason picture, Fischer is missing from the back row because he was hospitalized when the photo was taken.
Saturday, the Lions will face Salem (12-2), two-time champions, in the 4A championship game.
What happens after the game? Fischer said, “I don’t know what’s going to happen. I have no idea,” adding, “They told me I’d be dead in October and it’s December now. I ain’t even listening to it now. This is a cool way to go out. Whether it’s 15-0 or 14-1, I’m blessed to be a part of it.”