Orange flooded the concourse the minute the gates opened. Supporters filed into the stands at Creighton’s Morrison Stadium. Immediately, flags donned with large letter “L’s” for Lexington started to unfurl through the crowd. 

“I think this is the one,” said Artemio Munoz, who helped establish the Lexington High School boys soccer team in 1999. Munoz wore a sweatshirt emblazoned with every player’s name and number — including his son’s.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Minutemen were getting ready to play in the boys soccer state championships against Gretna. The weekend before, Lexington beat Schuyler, last year’s state champs. The 2-0 upset secured Lexington its fourth finals appearance in the last decade, a state title run that felt different – more crucial – to the team’s coach, its players and town residents.

Six months ago, news that Tyson Foods would close its Lexington plant shook their town. The plant employed more than 3,000 people — including parents of members of the team and their classmates. The closure wiped out jobs for nearly half the town’s workforce and has already led to plummeting business sales, emptying neighborhoods and declining school enrollment.

But through the months of uncertainty, soccer helped pull the community together, fans said. The town’s support was evident in that morning’s send-off as the team bus left for Omaha. 

“The streets were lined with people, the fire department, the police department, the sirens. It really just was so nostalgic,” said Nicole Thorell, who has lived in Lexington since 1993. “The boys were pounding on the windows and waving. It really did just bring tears to my eyes.” 

Hundreds of supporters followed the bus three and a half hours east on I-80 to Omaha. Family and friends took off work; donned their orange T-shirts and Converse; painted their faces and snuck in noisemakers. 

“I don’t know if there’s a business open today in Lexington,” Thorell said, looking at the crowd.

As the players warmed up, Julie Neher said that while she hoped for a win, she was already so proud of the boys on the team, including her son.

“A lot of them have to be adults way younger than most kids,” said Neher, a 7th-grade art teacher in Lexington.

Some of her students already left midyear after the Tyson closure, Neher said. Others plan to move away this summer. 

Thorell’s father was the plant manager at Tyson. The past months have been hard on her family and the community, she said. 

“You never know what people are struggling with … the Tyson closure brought to life what those struggles really are, you know, with people losing jobs, families leaving the community,” Thorell said.

“I think it has given the boys a drive and really pushed them to be closer,” Thorell said. “They want to win for themselves, for their community.”

“This group of boys on the field right now have played together since they were like 8 years old,” Thorell said, pointing to her homemade poster featuring a photo of some of the players as kids. 

Around her in the stands sat the boy’s club soccer coaches, teachers, even the county attorney.

“As a mother, it makes me very tearful just to see how much this community admires these boys, how much they show up for these boys,” Thorell said. “It really, truly is a community that wrapped each other in as a family.”

It didn’t end like it would have in the movies. Gretna got up early and poured it on, scoring goal after goal. Lexington lost the championship game 8-2. 

But even as the final seconds ticked off the clock, the mostly Lexington crowd shouted out “Go Lex.” They chanted “Si se puede.” Yes, you can.  

“Support from our community is second to none, I never doubted that for a second,” said head coach Joel Lemus. “It stinks that we couldn’t come out with a win today and see their smile one more time.”

“I’m sorry,” he said to his Lexington community.

From the sidelines, senior Juan Raymundo-Jesus’ mother hugged him. She was proud of him, she told him, no matter the outcome.  

“Especially with the hardship we face right now, it’s really something important to me how (the town comes) out here every single time,” Raymundo-Jesus said. “Hopefully, everyone just comes together and everything just goes back to normal, because this really is a special town. It’s a little small town, but there’s a lot of people that are connected to each other. This is what makes you one big family.”

Freshman Christopher Moro’s parents moved to Kansas in January to work at a different Tyson plant after being laid off. He stayed with his aunt in Lexington for the rest of the school year so he could finish the soccer season with his cousin.

“I just wanted to play a season with my family, my teammates. I thought we could get it this year,” Moro said.

His mom walked over and wrapped her arms around him. He’ll move to join them in Kansas next week.

Said Thorell: “They’re winners in our eyes. Like, even to make it here, we’re so proud of them, so proud of the work they’ve put in, and just so proud of the family they’ve become.

 “Win or lose, they have shown resiliency. They’ve shown the heart that they have.”