BETHALTO - Overall, the Civic Memorial High School football team was one of the area’s finest in 2021, advancing to the second round of the IHSA playoffs. 2021 will be the final year for CM’s outstanding head coach Mike Parmentier, who announced in the early offseason he will not return in 2022 after seven years at the helm.
Parmentier has developed strong football programs everywhere he goes. He was the head coach for nine years at Staunton.
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Mike Parmentier established the successful football culture at CM, called the plays, and motivated the Eagles to succeed.
“To end it this year by getting the monkey off our back with the playoff win after going up and battling Quincy was great,” Coach Parmentier said. “For a team to start a season by searching for their identity and finish it with a historic run is an impressive time for the purple and gold.”
Endings are hard and goodbyes can be even more difficult. After the final huddle of the 2021 season, the players, other coaches, and Paramentier all shared moments of gratitude with one and another.
According to Parmentier, those moments are some of the most difficult. “That is tough. Especially, with my son being in that class. As far as I am concerned, they are all my sons, those senior guys. They have come up together, played a lot of freshmen and sophomore ball together, and it is a personal group to me. They have been a great group of kids – they come out here, don’t ask much, work hard, and give you everything they got and as a coach, that is most satisfying.”
With a winning season, first playoff victory in 16 years, and a one-of-a-kind senior class, there is a lot for the Eagles to be proud of.
When asked if his team accomplished everything they could this 2021 season, Parmentier said, “Absolutely. We got in the playoffs, and I think our conference, the Mississippi Valley Conference, is one of the best 4A and 5A leagues. So, we were fighting uphill battles from the get-go, but these guys battled. We definitely achieved what we wanted to do.”
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