Team of ...

 Note to self, on the morning after: Don't say the D-word. Don't say the D-word. Don't say the D-word ...

But out there northwest of town on a frigid, snow-flying Friday night, something was happening. The sophomore who replaced Owen Scheele at quarterback threw a 69-yard pass to the 1-yard line on the first play of the game. Braden Steely ran like a man possessed by, again, something. The defense defensed its heart out. And Cooper Rudolph recovered the onside kick that ended it.

So here was Carroll High School beating the No. 1 team in the state, Hamilton Southeastern, and the D-word is fighting to get out of my throat. Carroll had never won a regional, let alone a semistate, until now. The Chargers had never played in a state championship game, until now. But they are headed to Lucas Oil Stadium next weekend to face Center Grove in the 6A title game, and they are going there undefeated.

Their record?

13-0.

13 was Owen Scheele's number.

13 is on the blue jersey the team captains have been taking out to the coin toss with them for 13 weeks now, because Owen Scheele was also a team captain.

The heir apparent at quarterback for Carroll, he died in June, and we all know the story. How he was beloved by his coaches and teammates. How he took sick, suddenly. How it was diagnosed as chronic myeloid leukemia, and how he was airlifted to Riley Hospital in Indianapolis, and how he died there on a Tuesday afternoon, just four days after he first went to the hospital in Fort Wayne.

It was the sort of tragedy that spreads out and out in concentric circles, from school to community to city to everywhere in the state, eventually. On Friday night, even the Hamilton Southeastern fans showed up with a #OwenStrong banner. 

At Carroll, he became the angel on the Chargers shoulders, a still-felt presence. Teenage boys not usually given to such things talked earnestly about how Owen spoke to them on the field. Jimmy Sullivan, the sophomore next man up at quarterback, became a star, making first-team all-conference. Carroll won and won and won again.

And now the D-word is unstoppable. Now that threadbare old phrase -- team of destiny -- must be spoken.

There is no such thing, of course.

Teams of destiny sometimes win, but they probably more often lose.

It's why hackneyed old scribes like the Blob think the team-of-destiny thing is bunkum. It's why we don't believe in miracles, only better blocking, tackling and execution. It's why as much as the Blob acknowledges football is driven by passion and unity and plain old garden variety emotion -- all the things driving Carroll right now -- it thinks it's as likely Center Grove wins next weekend as the Chargers.

I hope like hell that doesn't happen.

I hope the Chargers win, and they drape that 13 jersey over the state championship trophy, and they raise it toward heaven.

Where I hope Owen Scheele will be laughing at me.