Remembering David

BY CHRIS OGRYSKI

EDITOR

Thursday, Sept. 25 is a day that the Ubly players and coaches will never forget. It was the day they found out that their teammate David Osentoski, who was battling cancer, had taken a significant turn for the worse.
The team had talked about doing something to honor their teammate throughout the season, but this accelerated the time table. “We found out (before the Homecoming Game against Vassar) he only had a few days left and we wanted to get him down for a game,” said Eric LaBuhn.
“It was pretty tough on the kids,” Ubly coach Bill Sweeney added. “We decided to get something together to honor him and make it like a senior night for him.”
Osentoski, who teammates remembered for his sense of humor and for the Michigan hat he loved to wear, had played football in the Ubly program in junior high and on the junior varsity team. He had been slated to play in his sophomore year, when his season was suddenly ended sooner than expected. “He worked out with us and made it through conditioning,” Sweeney recalled. “The first day of pads, he got his foot stepped on and it was just bad.”
“Eventually (after a battery of tests), we found out it was cancer.”
Sweeney explained that Osentoski ended up losing his foot, but was going to be fit with a prosthetic so he could play as a junior. Unfortunately, his health got worse and that opportunity was taken away from him.
Despite the hardships he faced, Osentoski never let his disease get him down. “He was always positive and never had a negative attitude,” Brandon Sorenson said. “He was always upbeat and happy when he was walking down the halls.”
So when things took a turn for the worse, the team wanted to do something special for someone who meant so much to them. It was a flurry of activity as they tried to get things together in just one day, including getting David’s names put on their helmets.
“We wanted him to see that (his name on their helmets), we wanted the night to be about him,” Sweeney explained.
“It is huge for us to be able to show respect to him like that (wearing his name on their helmets),” LaBuhn said. “It is a great feeling (to be able to honor him like that).”
He added, “He has meant a lot to everyone. We are always thinking of him; he is always in the back of our minds, pushing us to play harder.”
Prior to the start of the Vassar game, Osentoski came out in a golf cart with the team and was introduced to the crowd. A special message from the players was read over the loud speakers by the PA announcer, which told David “he was the best teammate they ever had” and that the team loved him.
The emotions of the pre-game ceremony and seeing their teammate at what turned out be his final game, took their toll on the team early as they fumbled on their first two possessions. “It was a pretty emotional night, it was a tough night,” Sweeney said. “The kids’ heads weren’t into it, because it was tough.”At halftime, after the Homecoming Queen was crowned, all the candidates took a picture with Osentoski and before the team returned to the field to start the half, they did their pre-half huddle around his golf cart.
“We tried to make him a complete part of that game. It was a bitter sweet night because he was so happy, but you also knew it was probably going to be the last time he was on the sideline,” Sweeney said.Throughout the game, Sweeney put aside the task of beating the Vulcans and went over to talk with Osentoski and his family; letting the game take care of itself. “There are some things that are way more important than football. That kid was a great kid,” he said.
In the end, the Bearcats extended a 13 point advantage to come away with a 56-28 victory. “We came into the game and knew he was going to be there, so we came out and we really wanted to win it for him; it meant a lot (to be able to do that for him),” LaBuhn said.
“It was a great night for David,” Sweeney added. “His family said it meant the world to him.”
Osentoski passed away just before Ubly played Deckerville, which was the game that decided the Greater Thumb East championship. The Bearcats played for a title on Friday night and said goodbye to their teammate for the final time on Saturday.
Despite the circumstances, Ubly played one of their best games of the season as they knocked off the Eagles 36-6. “The kids really stepped it up against Deckerville not only because it was for a league championship, but because it was for David,” Sweeney said, who noted how said it was that Osentoski lost out on so many memories like that because of his disease.
LaBuhn added, “Afterwards you could tell that people weren’t as up as they usually were, because the next day you have to go to a funeral for one of your best friends.”
The entire team went as a group to the funeral the next game. “I think the family really appreciated it, but I think the kids really appreciated it, too,” Sweeney explained.
Since then the team has worn wristbands that honor their teammate and to let everyone know how much he meant to them. “It lets us know he will always be with us; he’s that 12th man on the field,” Alex Peruski said.
Ubly has dedicated their season to Osentoski and the players could think of no better way to honor their teammate then to win a state championship. “It would mean everything in the world (to be able to win a state title for him), because he was a great kid,” Dalton O’Connor said.
Sorenson added, “It is storybook tale I guess, the team that has a fallen teammate and they do everything they can to win a state championship for him.”
Sweeney hopes David’s story is one that will be told for years to come. “This is probably the ultimate, going to the state finals, where everyone is going to hear his name,” he explained. “Everybody is going to know who he is because we made it to the finals.”
“That’s something that his family and our kids can be proud of.”Sweeney added, “It’s an honor (to be able to share his story with everyone)…(because) he was the nicest kid and was liked by everybody. ”