That's because for all the pride there is in athletics on the corner of Elm and Locust streets in Elgin, there hasn't been a whole lot of success on the football field named for Greg True over the years. Let's face it, 12 winning seasons in 65 years of varsity football and a .333 all-time winning percentage does not qualify one for juggernaut status. Heck, only one time in those 65 years has the program had an unbeaten season, that when the Green Wave went 6-0-1 under True in 1960, long before the IHSA sponsored football playoffs. What some feel was St. Edward's best team ever, the 8-1 Tim McVey bunch of 1978 didn't even make the playoffs because in 1978 there were five classes and you had to be more than just good to get into the postseason.

Neither of the Green Wave's two playoff teams, not John Pergi's in 1983 nor Rich Sanders' 20 years later, won their first-round playoff games.

No, football and St. Edward are not two things commonly confused with equaling success.

But Mike Rolando is leading the charge to change all that.

Now in his fifth season as St. Edward's head coach, the 1991 Larkin graduate has resurrected a program that has not had an above .500 season since Jim Hoffman went 5-4 in 1994, long before the IHSA invited 5-4 teams to the postseason party unless they won a conference championship. Sanders' 2003 team finished 5-5.

Enter the 2009 Green Wave, a solid 6-3 team that will travel to Mendota Saturday afternoon for the first round of the Class 4A playoffs. From 0-9, 0-9, 1-8 and 4-5 to 6-3 and a playoff berth in five years. Hey, Rome wasn't built in a day, right?

"It's uncharted territory for us," Rolando said earlier this week. "It's a pretty cool time. The boys are excited for the opportunity to do something special. It's been a great season but now we're excited for the opportunity in front of us. Once we got on the practice field this week it was business as usual. We're going against an unknown. After being on Cloud 9 and getting that sixth win and that being so special, now we've shifted back and we're working hard."

But, boy, that sixth win sure didn't come easy. After a 5-1 start, the Wave needed just one win its final 3 games - all home games -to etch its place in the 256-team playoff field. First up was Aurora Christian. Tough 23-18 loss. Then Marian Central came to town. Ouch, a 48-7 whoopin'.

"Aurora Christian was just a tough game but then we came out flat against Marian and we weren't expecting that," said Rolando, who led the 1990 Larkin team to a state quarterfinal appearance before the Royals lost 49-42 to East St. Louis in one of the best high school football games ever played in Elgin.

"We just didn't show up to play and that was discouraging," Rolando said of the Marian Central loss. "It put our backs against the wall. But the kids knew if they didn't back down we could beat Wheaton Academy."

They had to. With a paltry 30 playoff points heading into Week 9, everyone in Green Wave Nation knew they weren't goin' dancin' at 5-4.

And with a little over 2 minutes to go in that Week 9 game last Friday, they were getting ready to ring the bell. But wait. Wheaton Academy erased a 12-point St. Edward lead quicker than you could yell "Playoffs!!!" and suddenly, with less than 30 seconds to play, the game was tied and St. Edward's postseason was in jeopardy. Then, boom, senior David Hoebbel ran back a kick 79 yards for a touchdown, the final seconds ticked away and the party was on.

"In the huddle before the kickoff we talked about making something happen," Hoebbel said this week. "We knew time was running out and we wanted to make something happen. We got more than we thought. There was relief and it felt good."

Worried? Who was worried?

"I had full confidence we were going to pull it out," said senior lineman Shane Finnane, who has been a varsity player for four years. "We wanted it real bad."

Rolando, who played his college football at Valparaiso, points to two key plays before Hoebbel's TD as being equally as important in the biggest win at Greg True in, well, a long time.

"Luckily our special teams came up big and blocked two extra points," he said. "It was quite the roller coaster game. The kids' backs were against the wall and they responded."

Finnane more than any single player can remember well when things weren't so exciting around St. Edward.

"It's been four tough years," he said. "The 0-9s, getting beat up. But then we stepped it up last year and this year has been amazing. We've never gone to the playoffs. It felt good to be on the field (this week)."

What's behind the evolution of the program is no question to the 6-foot, 240-pound Finnane, who would love to play college football at Indiana or Colorado.

"The first thing is the coaching," he said. "They've been with this senior class since we were in seventh grade. They know us. They've taught us how to be football players and how to be men. The most important thing they've taught us is heart. No matter how you play, just bring the heart."

Rolando, who has also taken the St. Edward softball program to new heights the last two years, has no intention of this being a one-year thing. The Green Wave's sophomore team was 9-0 this season, and the Crusader feeder teams claimed Super Bowl championships at the middleweight and heavyweight levels last weekend.

"This is not just a flash in the pan," Rolando declared. "We played solid football last year, we added a nice junior class this year and we did more offensively. But it's not just one great class. We only brought one sophomore (Evan Finnane) up this year and our sophomores went 9-0. We've got some good freshmen, and the Crusaders won two Super Bowls. We want to sustain this and do it right away."

Rolando is also rightfully proud of the way St. Edward has rebuilt. The program earned the Suburban Christian Gold sportsmanship award this season, something Rolando says tells him that he, his staff and the St. Edward community are doing things the right way.

"We are doing it right and we're doing it with respect," he said. "The other schools and their fans appreciate the way our kids play and the way our fans and student body act. We focus on academics. Our players have mandatory study halls and we give them college exposure. When you build a program that way and sustain it, winning becomes a byproduct and kids want to come play for you."

And win or lose on Saturday or whenever in this postseason, something tells us St. Edward is going to be an easier name to find on the IHSA's football Web site in years to come.

jradtke@dailyherald.com