WALHALLA — It was an unfortunately familiar scene for the Walhalla High School football team after last Friday night's loss at Emerald signaled the end of the season for the Razorbacks.

Having come within a stone's throw of making an ever-elusive appearance in the postseason, it was a scene of disappointment, as the realization dawned on the Razorbacks (5-5, 1-4 Skyline 2A) they'd be turning in their equipment when they returned home.

And for some, they weren't all too willing to give it up.

"It's hard on them, and a couple of them mentioned they didn't want to take their uniforms off because they know they won’t get to put them back on," Walhalla head coach John Boggs said. "You feel for those kids, and we've all been through it. If you've played, you've had that day where you know you're done and you're not going to play anymore."

While coming so close to a playoff berth may have been a painful pill for Walhalla to swallow, there are few, if any, in the program who would call the 2009 campaign a disappointment, as the Razorbacks have plenty to look back on fondly this season.

The sight of Mac McMullan crossing the goal line with no time left on the clock to beat rival West-Oak is a pertinent memory, as is the Razorbacks' double overtime win at Saluda the following week, when John Sharpe found the end zone on the final play of the night to cap off a second straight Walhalla 'walk-off' victory.

And while Boggs admits it may be easy to assess the season solely based on missing the playoffs, that's not the biggest thing to him.

"That's obviously another big hurdle for us to clear, but you still feel like as a whole it's been progress when you look at the whole body of work," Boggs said. "We did a lot of good things, and you don't ever want to label it as not being successful, because a lot of kids have paid a pretty dear price to be out here."

Among the players paying a price on a weekly basis was senior wide receiver and defensive back Mikey Brown, who didn't practice one full week once region play began due to back spasms, though he found a way to fight on.

"You admire a kid that does that, because you know how much it means to him," Boggs said.

In addition to Brown's injury, the Razorbacks suffered several more injuries down the stretch, but none bigger than the one suffered by senior defensive lineman Easton Smith, who broke two vertebrate against Abbeville in October.

Smith will be in a neck brace for a while — okay, but bad for the Razorbacks.

"You tell yourself in the middle of it this guy or that guy is going to have to step up, but looking back, Easton's injury was obviously big when he's such a special playmaker for us," Boggs said.

In addition to the graduation of Brown and Smith, the Razorbacks lose a number of other key veterans next year, including their entire starting offensive line.

However, the greatest loss will likely be the workhorse in Sharpe at running back, as he led the area with 196 rushes for 1,128 yards and was second with 12 touchdowns.

"Sharpe just gutted it out against a lot of people, and there were games where he carried over 30 times and was still being productive where he was just gassed," Boggs said. "You can't say enough about his heart and how hard he plays."

Moving forward to next season, Walhalla's challenge will be great in not only replacing it seniors, but also moving into the Western 3A region, where the Razorbacks will join area squads Daniel, Seneca and West-Oak.

And while it'll be a tough step up, it's a challenge Boggs and the Razorbacks are ready to face head on.

"That'll obviously be a challenge, but I think this 2A region is extremely tough," Boggs said. "There's quality teams in that 3A region we're going to move into, but I'd put Abbeville up with anybody right now, and Coach (Paul) Sutherland and those guys (at Pendleton) have shown they can play with 3A schools.

"We expect to come into that region, we'll work hard and keep plugging and do what we can to try to find a way."