By Bill Petzold Vassar Pioneer Times

A portrait of Army Sgt. Travis Mills is placed in a prominent position on the sideline as former Vassar High School students stretch out prior to the start of the second half of the alumni football game Saturday, August 4 at Vassar High School.

In a perfect world, Mills could have been on the field at Vassar High School, strapping on the pads for one more game on the gridiron where he was a star athlete for the Vulcans.

Instead, Mills is recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Mills was injured in the line of duty April 10, losing parts of all four limbs during his third tour of Afghanistan when he stepped on an improvised explosive device.

The portrait did little to fill the gap left by the absence of the vivacious, talented and fun-loving Mills. Instead, it served as a tribute to a missing teammate and a dose of reality on the same field where Mills and his teammates dreamed big and worked together for greatness.

I think what (Mills former teammates) were all thinking about and talking about was it was the first time they played a game without him; it was the first time they got pads and he wasnt in the locker room getting dressed, Vassar assistant football coach Bill Germain said. Germain scored the sole touchdown in the Vulcans 6-0 victory over Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port.

A lot of them just thought it was different with him not being around, Germain said. Hes just a big piece of what theyve always connected with football. Football is the smell of the grass, its the pop of the pads, and its Travis doing whatever Travis did around them, saying what he said. So there was still the grass, still the pads, but there was no Travis. It was just very emotional for some of those guys.

Mills former teammates Roger Bacon and Mike Hecht, both Class of 2005, played in the game. Hecht, who has stepped up to help with a number of fund-raising efforts for Mills family, said playing a game without Mills made it a game like no other.

I think everybody wanted to say something about it, and I dont think anybody knew what to say, Hecht said. I said, Ive never been a leader before, I never had to be because Travis was always the leader for my team, I never had to be that guy. I told them, Today Im more than willing to give this a shot if you guys are willing to follow me. It felt good just having that picture of Travis down there, I knew in a way there was at least some part of him down there.

In a moving show of sportsmanship, Laker High donated its entire share of the gate receipts and a bit more to the Mills Family Fund. The Lakers received $300 for their participation. Instead of putting that money towards equipment for their own program, they handed a check for $305 back to Vassar players.

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Travis Mills’ absence casts shadow over Vassar High School alumni game