It will sting for awhile, there’s no doubt about that: For the members of the Joseph Charter School football team to work so hard, to get so far, and to come up short in the championship game on Saturday, it has to hurt. Years down the road, it might still trigger a nostalgic twinge or two when Eagles players and coaches recall their 47-40 loss in the Oregon 1A 6-man title game against the Echo Cougars.

But the sting will fade with time, and the Eagles will be able to put this 2023 season into perspective and remember it for what it was: A remarkable accomplishment that fell just a couple of yards short at the end after a furious comeback.

This Eagles team already is in rarified air: It’s just the second team in school history to earn a spot in the title game. And, after all, 25 other 6-man teams across the state didn’t make it to the championship game. For years to come, people still will be talking about that thrilling championship game.

For the Eagles, their spirited performance in the championship game capped a memorable season to be proud of — a season that fans and the community of Joseph also will remember with pride.

And the football championship game put an exclamation point on a remarkable season of sports throughout Wallowa County. Consider the evidence:

• Joseph’s volleyball team made a stirring run to the state tournament, where it finished sixth.

• The Enterprise football team won a playoff game for the first time in more than two decades. Meanwhile, the Wallowa football team, playing for the first time in the six-man ranks, did much better than expected and nearly made the playoffs.

• The Wallowa County cross-country teams — boys and girls alike — returned from the state meet on a sopping-wet day in Eugene with hardware, the boys nabbing a third-place finish and the girls finishing fourth. Both teams are loaded with sophomores. They’ll be back.

Meanwhile, athletes from Wallowa County continue to make their marks elsewhere. Consider, for example, College of Idaho cross-country runner Ellyse Tingelstad, a 2020 graduate of Joseph Charter School, who was named the Cascade Collegiate Conference Women’s Cross Country RIZE Runner of the Year for the third straight year. This season, she won three races, including the conference championship, where she posted a 6K time of 20:51.5.

But let’s remember that athletics, like all extracurricular activities, are meant as a supplement to students’ academic work. To that end, here’s a special shout-out to the Wallowa High School girls’ volleyball team, which won a special honor this season.

Each season, the Oregon School Activities Association, in cooperation with OnPoint Community Credit Union, hands out awards for each team that achieves a grade-point average above 3.0 (on a 4-point scale). Not only did the Wallowa volleyball team earn one of those awards, it beat out every other school to earn the Academic All-State Award with an astonishing 3.99 GPA. It was the best mark for any volleyball team in the state, regardless of school size. The school receives a plaque in honor of its team; each member of the winning team receives a commemorative decal and a certificate.

Now, that’s a capper for a truly winning season. Congratulations to all of Wallowa County’s young athletes and their coaches. You’ve done us proud once again.