One just never wanted to see Eric Oertel get away.

If you were an opposing player, you vainly tried to keep this 6-foot-2,

198-pound package of speed and power within your grasp until help came along.

"You tried to get a hit on him and hang on," Catholic Central linebacker Sam Wagner said. "You hoped you could hang on him long enough until your teammates could come. He's the best football player that I ever played against."

And if you got to know Oertel once he took off his Racine Lutheran helmet, you likely quickly realized that his heart was far larger than his immense talent.

Just ask Wagner, whose team recovered from a 35-14 halftime deficit to defeat Lutheran 42-35 Oct. 21 at Horlick Field for the Midwest Classic Conference

championship.

"He was just a really good guy," Wagner said. "I went up to him after the game and said, ‘Good luck at Washington State' and stuff and he was talking about how we play real tough and how he hopes to see us play up at Madison. I thought that was really cool.

"We had just beaten them for the conference championship and they had lost in a heartbreaker. But he just looked at it as one bump in the road."

So when you think about it, Oertel is leaving behind two legacies.

The first one is as the All-Racine County Player of the Year, as voted on by the county's coaches. This was really a no-brainer considering Oertel set a single-season county rushing record (including playoffs) with 2,731 yards. He also finished his career with 5,695 yards, breaking Johnny Clay's career record by 679 yards.

Furthermore, Oertel was considered by Lutheran coach Scott Smith to be perhaps an even better middle linebacker.

But the most enduring legacy Oertel leaves behind will be not as a football player, even with all his accomplishments. Instead, it will be as the quality young man whom his parents, Dan and Carol, raised.

This Eric Oertel helped an opponent up after running him into the ground. This Eric Oertel offered spirited congratulations to teams during postgame handshakes, even after a gut-wrenching loss. And this Eric Oertel led a sing-along around a campfire during a class retreat, worked with struggling students, regularly donated blood, worked at a grocery store and maintained a 3.4 grade-point average.

This Eric Oertel was truly one of a kind.

"My parents started me out young to be responsible," Oertel said. "I set high standards for myself - especially with sports.

"I always strived to be the best. I didn't always consider myself to be, but I always strived to be the best."