Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong, the Boston Celtics under Red Auerbach, the New York Yankees, to name just a few, represent athletes or teams that have so dominated their competition during a particular time, era or generation, that you either love them or hate them. Want to see them win every time, or root for their opposition no matter what.

Pencil the Independence Patriots in that category. With their 103 consecutive games win streak….their propensity to churn out Division 1 caliber players (Chris Leak, Joe Cox, Hakeem Nicks to name a few)…their highly motivated head coach.

You’re either with them or against them.

As many of you have read or heard, the Patriots’ win streak is the second longest such streak in high school football history in this country, THE longest streak among public high schools. Hate them or love them, it is hard not to appreciate that.

While I’ve lived in North Carolina for a couple of years now, I had yet to experience high school football here. I saw a few games while I lived in Florida, and witness the passion that the players brought to the game. I lived in New York and New Jersey, and while college football isn’t huge in the Northeast, they take their high school football very seriously. And I grew up in the Midwest – where football is part of the fabric of scholastic life.

Ira Cronin had been hammering me to sample the fine fare of football here, so I walked from my house in Elizabeth to Memorial Stadium Friday night, and with WCNC’s digital camera, witnessed one of the greatest comebacks in football I’ve ever seen. I’ve been to hundreds of college and professional football games, and this was as exciting a game as any.

In front of about 10,000 fans, Butler dominated the first half. Up 21-0 at the break, the fans from Indy were silent, stunned but yet seemed to anticipate a better second half for their team. But then again, the Patriots had no where to go but up. When I called Chris Sotardi, who was covering the game for the Blitz, I suggested his halftime headline should be, “Houston, we have no problem”. The Bulldog’s Ryan Houston had racked up 3 touchdowns, and the Patriots’ D had no answer.

The third quarter started, and when Butler got the ball, they were driving for a touchdown that most likely would have been, as intrepid producer/photographer Tom Butler said, the final nail in the coffin. During the drive, one of Butler’s most successful plays was a stop and go route, as Butler QB Jacob Charest would pump fake the cornerback, and hit his receiver as he broke out of his momentary stop. They tried the play a second time, throwing the ball down the left side, and into the end zone. Which is right where we were standing. I said to another member of the media standing next to me, “this ball is coming right at us” – it did.

Literally out of nowhere, the Patriots’ Adam Irving, sprinting from the hash mark, made a diving grab in the end zone, having the presence of mind to get one foot in as he flew out of bounds. I’m not trying to gush here – I do not know anyone on either team, and know of no one that attends either school – but that was one of the single greatest plays I’ve ever witnessed in person. I’ve been fortunate to cover Super Bowls, World Series, the Daytona 500, the NBA finals and the Stanley Cup finals, and that play would rank up there as any I’ve seen, given what was on the line, the moment and the athleticism displayed. And in that moment, the game changed.

You know the rest – two overtimes later and Independence’s streak was intact. Butler is a fine team, and will no doubt go far in the playoffs. But no matter who you root for, you have to appreciate what Independence, their players and their coaches have accomplished. And all of North Carolina should be proud.