Sorrow as Floyd County falls 35-20 in State Football final at Salem Municipal Stadium on Saturday, December 6, 2008.

A reader of the Floyd Press wanted to know why I took photos of the Floyd County High School players crying after their loss to Gretna in the Virginia High School League Championship game in Salem last Saturday.

“Why couldn’t you let them have their moment of grief in private,” she asked. “Both you and The Roanoke Times took photos of them while they were crying.”

Yes we did. Eric Brady of The Roanoke Times and I both had photos of the emotion and grief that followed the game. It was a major part of the story of the game. Floyd went into the championship game 13-0 and, like the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl earlier this year, hoped to finish the season undefeated.

Sadly, that wasn’t to be and the disappointment in the players’ faces was part of the game. Other photos here.