This is a column by Scott DeCamp.

MUSKEGON, MI Billie Roberts III emerged from a somber Muskegon Big Reds locker room with watery eyes late Saturday night at Ford Field. His top-ranked team had just lost to River Rouge in the Division 3 state finals in stunning fashion, 30-7.

It was Billies fourth-straight season playing in the state-title game, and while he and his 2017 teammates were able to bask in the glow of a championship, this marked the third time he had experienced defeat on the big stage.

You might be surprised to know what was upsetting him the most, however, and it wasnt the loss to River Rouge.

What hurts the most is that Big Red football is over for me and its just going to take a while to get over that, he reflected. As far as the loss goes, that comes with the game of football.

Cory Morse | MLive.com

Muskegon football head coach Shane Fairfield hugs Muskegon's Billie Roberts III (53) after losing 30-7 to River Rouge in the MHSAA Division 3 football championship game at Ford Field in Detroit on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2019. (Cory Morse | MLive.com)

In the heat of the moment, thats an incredibly mature response by a young man whos been a work in progress throughout his four years under the tutelage of tough-love Big Reds head coach Shane Fairfield, assistants Matt Bolles and Don Poole, and the rest of the staff.

Billies comments are sincere, theyre introspective and they reflect the amazing growth that hes made as a person since he first entered the hallways at Muskegon High School.

You need to really listen to Billie. He is an expressive young man, and despite his reputation as a jokester and life of the party, he is uniquely profound in this thoughts and in his ability to listen to people after you scratch the surface.

Also, you need to continue reading this column. It lays out the realities of a football program like Muskegons, the players and coaches who make it what it is, and the tough city Big Reds call home.

MLive colleague Cory Morse, who is a multi-media journalist, and I felt compelled to tackle a project earlier this year. I was first inspired to do so while covering the Big Reds sports teams during the 2018-19 school year for MLive Muskegon Chronicle.

What struck me initially were the relationships forged, the chemistry and the love shown between Muskegon High student-athletes and coaches, such as Fairfield and Big Reds basketball coach/athletic director Keith Guy, witnessed through the access granted by those men, their programs and the school. What moved me to take on such an involved assignment were the complexities that not all, but many, Muskegon High School students face on a daily basis.

The main theme of the project was to examine how Muskegons coaches and educators embrace athletics as means to help young people under their watch better their lives in the long run. The crux of the Muskegon Big Reds series by Cory and me was taking an inside look at the schools tradition-rich football program.

Thats where this column is going. For starters, playing and coaching in the Muskegon football program is both a blessing and a curse. The Big Reds play in a historic stadium, in a football-crazed community. No high school football program in Michigan can claim the same tradition as the Muskegon Big Reds. Some might come close, but the Big Reds boast the winningest tradition (859-280-43 in 125 seasons) in the state by a wide margin and they rank seventh nationally in all-time high school football victories.

Michigan is home to many great high school football programs, but none are on the same plane as Muskegons when you consider the combination of excellence and championships (18 state titles total, six in the MHSAA playoff era) against the backdrop of socio-economic and other challenges faced by many in a community like Muskegon.

Heres just one example: Two peers of players on this seasons Muskegon football team lost their lives in fatal shootings a couple weeks before the season kicked off. In fact, a day later, a few players wrapped up football practice at the school and walked a couple blocks to the site of a candlelight vigil for one of the victims. Think about that. Muskegon is certainly not the only urban area in that state that encounters violence and poverty, but the topic of this column is Muskegon.

Back to the field, when you play for and star with the Big Reds, all eyes are on you. Muskegon is home to MLives Michigan High School Football Player of the Year award winner in each of the last three seasons (Cameron Martinez in 2018 and 2019; LaDarius Jefferson in 2017).

Much like the football program in which those young men played, a ton of pressure comes with such status. No matter what, youre wearing the target in every game you play. Youre the top dog and people line up to take you out, much like the wonderfully talented squads from River Rouge this weekend and Detroit King in 2018 did to the Big Reds in state-finals matchups.

Its difficult just to get to a state championship game. Muskegon has been there in seven of the last eight seasons. The Big Reds have won just once in those seven trips. Keyboard warriors and Internet tough guys write how the coaches need to go, and some are even critical of the teenagers playing a game.

The rallying cry for many critics is that Muskegon should be in the finals every year and should win it. Its a birthright. But what are those critics doing to help these coaches and players succeed? Are they making the countless sacrifices, and the time and emotional investments, that those very coaches and players theyre criticizing are making?

Do critics remember that these coaches are pouring everything they have into their professions, that the players are giving all they can to those coaches and to the program, in order to represent their school the best they can?

Do they remember that Saturdays loss to River Rouge, disappointing as it was, it still just a game and that the primary mission of the adults in the program is first and foremost to mold these young men into productive members of society?

Look no further than Billie Roberts. He was blessed with many gifts, one being an abnormally athletic 6-foot-4, 280-pounder with a world of still-untapped potential, plus a big personality and huge heart to match. Billie has several options to go play for a big-time college football program and, most importantly, the opportunity to better his life and the lives of those around him.

Had he won a state championship this weekend, how will that have bettered his life? It would have been a nice feather in his cap, certainly, and a nice way to cap his high school career. But if that were the best thing in his life, if that defined him as a person, then thats sad. Conversely, if Billie losing in a state championship game is the worst thing in his life, then hes pretty damned blessed.

If anybody had earned the right to express himself Saturday night after the loss to River Rouge, then it was Billie Roberts the player who strapped on the pads and slipped on the uniform and helmet 56 times in his Big Reds career. He was the one flipping 200-plus-pound tires and pouring sweat. He was the one sacrificing, along with dozens of teammates.

Do you want to know how he chose to express himself after his final high school game? He gave coach Shane Fairfield a big hug in the middle of Ford Field. He looked at the big picture.

The coaching staff has been a really big part of my life and success, he said.

After seeing what Ive seen following Muskegon High School athletics in the past year, and especially Big Reds football the good (so much of it is good), the bad and the ugly my No. 1 takeaway is this:

Billie and the Big Reds have won, clearly.

MORE:

Letter from the editor: We didnt just tell a great story about Muskegon football, we lived it for a year

Theres nothing like Hackley Stadium: Muskegon Big Reds home one of a kind

Muskegon High coach uses love and his own tough upbringing to steer players to success

Meet Damon Knox: A Muskegon High success whose story is still being written

Chemistry, role players as crucial as top talent for Muskegon Big Reds

Cameron Martinez to Earl Morrall: 25 greatest athletes in Muskegon High history

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Muskegon Big Reds may have missed out on a title, but we learned so much more (column) - MLive.com