And in the end, Mason Chamberlain did not let Belvidere lose.

Chamberlain's astonishing fourth-quarter heroics that played an enormous role in bringing the County Seaters their first football division championship in 10 years in Saturday afternoon's come-from-ahead, then come-from-behind 34-26 defeat of Middlesex will be remembered and talked about for years.

The win gave Belvidere (8-1, 5-0 Big Central Conference Freedom Silver Division) not only a new banner to hang in the gym and a proper culmination to a remarkable regular season, but it produced tears of joy that washed away the last, bitter memories of 2022's winless debacle.

"We all knew we had the championship today," said senior Luke Tipton, who proudly showed off his wet eyes. "This means the world to us. We just dug down and did what we needed to do."

This senior class has been digging down since they were sophomores in 2022, their introduction to varsity football getting royally housed every week. They were outscored 348-84. They lost to archrival North Warren 40-8. It was brutal.

"These seniors never quit, and they could have quit, it would have been easy to quit," said Belvidere head coach Jordon Schreffler, who was a rookie head coach in 2022. "What they've been through has been tough, 0-9, then 3-7. They stuck with us, and they all stuck with each other."

And no one more so than Chamberlain.

Every good football team has a talisman, a player beyond even a leader, one that can carry a team on his back and over the finish line when no one else can, when all seems lost, they find a way.

While every Seater made a contribution Saturday just by suiting up, take Chamberlain away and it's the Blue Jays (6-3, 4-1) doing the celebration under the gorgeous late-October sunshine that bathed Domenick Cosentino Stadium in its warm(ish) glow.

When Belvidere needed big plays, huge moments, completely improbable plays that made them winners after blowing a 20-0 first-half lead and put them behind 26-20 in the fourth quarter, there was Chamberlain to make them.

It's just remarkable how, in such situations, the football finds the great players. But it's not luck or by chance.

"Great players make great plays," said Schreffler, referring to Chamberlain, his senior wide receiver/defensive back/punter.

That they do.

Moment number one: with Belvidere in desperate need of a play to reverse the momentum gained by Middlesex in erasing the 20-point deficit and taking the lead, Chamberlain delivered with a 48-yard run with a recovered fumble to allow Belvidere to tie the game (the PAT was blocked) at 26 early in the fourth quarter.

"The ball just came out and came out right to my hands," Chamberlain said. "It was just like Brayden Duckworth's fumble return against North Warren last week, except I didn't throw up afterwards."

Middlesex fans might have lost their lunches at the irony of a County Seater fumble return TD changing the game back after the Blue Jays had changed the entire momentum of the game with Sean Downes' 49-yard fumble return for a TD early in the third quarter.

Chamberlain wasn't done making Middlesex feel sick.

On the ensuing kickoff, the ball was sent spiraling down the right sideline. Middlesex didn't seem eager to pick it up.

Guess who did.

"I think they were waiting for the ball to go out of bounds or in the end zone," Chamberlain said. "As soon as I saw their returner go flat-footed, I said, 'That's mine'."

And it was, on the 1-yard line, the longest onside kick recovery (sort of) you'll ever see. Belvidere senior quarterback Kyle Blew scored from the 1, and then ran in the 2-point try, for the 34-26 lead,

But there were still 11 minutes left in the game. Belvidere's defense, which had been trampled in the third quarter, rose from the near-dead and, led by senior linebacker Brayden Stefan, kept the Blue Jays away from the end zone.

However, Belvidere's offense couldn't produce the clinching score, either, not helped by the fact that sophomore playmaker Elijah White, who'd scored the Seaters' first two TDs, the first by recovering a Chamberlain fumble (nobody's perfect) in the end zone, was out with a concussion.

With about two and half minutes left, the Seaters were stopped on offense deep in their own end and had to punt, facing fourth down and five-ish to go. Middlesex's explosive offense would get one more chance.

Chamberlain, the punter, had other ideas. After all, he had the ball and the opportunity, and the ball finds the right man in the right spot.

"I told Mason if he saw a lane go, but that we really should try and punt and do a rugby punt because they were surely going to try and block it," Schreffler said. "I don't think Mason heard anything past 'go'. But I was OK with it; as coaches you have to trust your players."

Tipton said, "Mason didn't say anything, he just took off. I was able to get a block in for him, and then he threw on the burners."

Chamberlain gained over 40 yards on the play and the Seaters then ran out the clock to set off a wild celebration.

"Coach said if you think you can get (the first down), do it," Chamberlain said. "As soon as I saw where their end lined up, I knew I could get it, and I just took off and ran."

Ran right into history and erased a lot of tough memories.

"We definitely hurt ourselves today, but we never doubted we were going to win," Chamberlain said. "We trusted in ourselves; we trusted in each other and we trusted in our coaches. It was great to win today with all the people up on the hill watching us, the community support has been great. They came out today, they came out when we were 0-9. We can't ask for better support."

And Belvidere football can't ask for a better talisman than Mason Chamberlain, or a better senior class that has restored pride and passion to a proud program - one that, once again, is a championship program.

"The kids believed in themselves, and trusted each other," Schreffler said. "They had to find out what happened when they had to dig deep, and they rose to the occasion."

Especially Mason Chamberlain - who couldn't, wouldn't and didn't let Belvidere lose in the biggest game he and his teammates have ever played in.