JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR—Royal head coach Gene Uebelhardt is preparing to graduate his second son in three years from the Royal football program. Cody, a wide receiver/kick returner, said playing for his dad has been a great experience both on and off the field. But before dad and coach part ways, both men are eager to lead Royal into the postseason, something few expected when the Highlanders lost their starting quarterback in Week 1. Win or lose, the last game of the season is almost always an emotional time for players and coaches.

When the final whistle blows this year, it will be an especially poignant moment for a pair of local high school head football coaches, Royal’s Gene Uebelhardt and Grace Brethren’s Terry Gourley, as both men will have coached their sons, Cody Uebelhardt and Steve Gourley, for the final time.

BILL SPARKES/Acorn Newspapers LOOK AT THE GUNS, SON—Steve Gourley leads the Olympic League with 93 tackles, but by the looks of things, he’s still got a way to go before he can take down his dad in an arm wrestling contest. “It’s going to be real difficult to be in the stands and watch rather than being down there on that sideline,” Terry Gourley said. “That’s how I got introduced to this coaching staff that I’m now the head coach with. . . .I was in the stands at a youth football game and I didn’t like what was going on and I started yelling. So they introduced themselves and invited me onto the staff.

“But seriously, I can’t wait to get done with a game and go down to LAX and get on a plane to watch (Steve) play,” he said. “It’ll be great, a wonderful time.”

Gene Uebelhardt, who, similar his counterpart at Grace Brethren, also teaches at the school in which he coaches and is married to a schoolteacher, said it won’t be easy saying goodbye to his son, Cody, a player who has established himself as a tremendous leader in the Highlanders’ locker room over the past two seasons.

The coach, however, has been through the experience before, having watched his oldest son, Kyle, graduate from Royal in 2003.

Kyle Uebelhardt is now playing quarterback at Dartmouth.

“We told both Kyle and Cody when they first came here that they were representing their family, and there’s nothing more important than that,” the 18-year Highlander head coach said. “Any problem is magnified because of who you are, so coming here carries a lot of burden with it.

“On the other hand, what I am most proud of is when my colleagues—a math, physics or science teacher—comes to me and tells me what a great young man I have. That means more to me than anything that happens on Friday nights,” the elder Uebelhardt said.

While it may be easy to reminisce about the good times, being the coach’s son isn’t always the easiest situation.

When Steve Gourley made the varsity team at Grace Brethren during his freshman season, he heard grumblings from some of the older players.

At the time, Terry Gourley was the Lancer linebackers coach, and Steve was just trying to find his niche with the team.

“When I was a freshman on the varsity, the seniors gave me a little bit of a hard time,” Steve said. “But they were always on my side. I’d get teased, but it was never real serious. I was there because I had earned it.”

Cody said he heard the rumblings, too, when he made the varsity squad at Royal as a junior.

“I took a lot of heat from people, some even think I have special privileges,” the younger Uebelhardt said. “It’s kind of funny because if anything I probably have less (privileges). A lot of kids are able to get away with things every now and then, but if I mess up here, my dad would know about it real quick.”

As both players improved on the field over the years, the detractors slowly faded away. No longer were Cody and Steve just the coach’s sons, they became impact players on championship teams.

Steve still points to last year’s Division XII title victory game as his single greatest moment playing football for his dad. Terry, on the other hand, said Steve’s overall effort as a freshman linebacker during Grace Brethren’s 2002 CIF championship game loss was his proudest moment coaching his son.

“He played phenomenal and never quit,” the senior Gourley said. “Afterwards, he collapsed on the field when we lost. That was when I knew he had the killer instinct in him. He was just 15 years old, but I was like, ‘Wow, here he goes.’”

Coach Uebelhardt said his greatest memory coaching Cody was the way his son responded when quarterback Kevin Harrington went down with a broken arm during the first game this season.

“Cody’s a wide receiver and wide receivers catch footballs,” Uebelhardt said. “He was preparing for a great senior year catching Kevin’s passes. They’d been talking about it all year and working together all summer.

“So when disaster struck and we were going to be a running team, he had to block and do whatever it took to win,” the coach said. “It was the way he handled truly being a team player. He was mature enough to handle adversity and not think about himself or his glory.”

While the Gourleys and Uebelhardts remain focused on advancing deep into the playoffs this season, both sons said they can foresee a situation in the future where they might end up leading young men into battle, just like their fathers.

“When he retires,” Cody said, “he’s passing it on to me.”

Not so fast, son, said the coach.

“I don’t know if that’s going to happen,” Coach Uebelhardt said. “But I could think of nothing greater than him being on the staff with me.”