The sun had long since disappeared behind the mountains, quickly dropping the temperature enough that you could see your breath rise into the air, by the time McCallie's football team began wearily walking from the field to the locker room early this week.
It had been a long day of classes capped off with a couple hours of practice but as they plopped down to rest for a few moments, the one thing the Blue Tornado's 15 seniors could agree on was this: They don't want this to be the last week with such a hectic, tiring schedule.
"It's been a long season and, like any team that's still playing, everybody is tired and banged up. But none of us want it to end yet," said senior receiver and safety Rico Dozier.
Dozier's last sentence - "none of us want it to end yet" - is the motto for every prep football senior who still gets the chance to put on pads and run out under the lights and onto a field tonight, but only half will get their wish to continue practicing and preparing for another game next week.
The small collection of seniors on this year's Blue Tornado roster is a key reason their season was extended into a Division II-AAA semifinal at Brentwood Academy - most notably the willingness of nearly half the class to take on new roles or become two-way starters to pick up the slack because of injuries or add experience in crucial situations.
"Seniors give you a little something extra in the playoffs," McCallie coach Ralph Potter said. "When you have a group that's been playing together for so long, and they enjoy being around each other, they're not ready for their career or their time together to end.
"This time of year, it's been kind of a grind for a while, so a lot of it is about how much fun they're having together and how much longer they want to be out there."
It's common for the most talented players to play on both sides of the ball in the smaller classifications, but for larger programs, like McCallie, having so many is certainly out of the ordinary.
"It is unusual to ask what we are of these guys," Potter added. "They've all played a lot of football for us and have increased their productions."
Along with Dozier, who moved into the secondary late in the season after an injury to a teammate, Jay Gibson (tight end/linebacker), Jorden Starling (defensive end/tight end), Hakim McMorris (receiver/defensive end), River Henry (two-way interior lineman) and Xavier Brooks, who plays nearly every skill position, all have added to their workload for the good of the team.
And the results are noticeable as the Blue Tornado have beaten three straight opponents - all tough league foes - by an average of 47-18. The seniors also have helped bring along a group that includes seven underclassmen on defense and an offense that has three sophomore linemen, a sophomore quarterback and a freshman running back.
"The seniors set the tone all year," Potter said. "Like last week, Deangelo (Hardy) threw it to the wrong receiver on a route, and Jorden let him know he wasn't going to allow his season to end that night and he better throw it to the right guy."
Hardy, McCallie's sophomore quarterback, answered by eventually helping guide the team to a 21-point win at Briarcrest, which had lost just once previously all season.
"We just want to soak in every opportunity we have," Starling said. "It's our last year, our last chance to make memories, so we want to soak in every moment."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.