For many, the top out-of-this-world event of the weekend was the solar eclipse, where the moon danced between the Earth and the sun. However, for the McCann clan, it was an unprecedented gathering under the stars in Spanish Fork that was generations in the making.
Six cousins and a coach, each uniquely different but linked by the same bloodline, shared the field during the Timpanogos-Spanish Fork football game. Up in the stands, family representatives donned both sides. Those who couldn’t make it were home watching the livestream.
Spanish Fork featured my daughter Lauren McCann, a senior cheerleader who choreographed the halftime dance routine, and sophomore offensive lineman Jack Parsons.
Timpanogos suited up three McCann receivers, Cache (senior), Dash (junior) and Zack (freshman) and linebacker Josh Mauerman (junior). Deven McCann, Cache’s father, called the plays as the T-Wolves offensive coordinator.
“It’s like the circle of life. We all love football,” said Andrea McCann, the matriarch. “Their grandpa (the late Dale McCann) loved BYU football so much. He would be absolutely thrilled to see them all out there participating. It’s fun for all of us.”
It was especially fun for the four Timpanogos McCanns after Dash caught the game-winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter. But just like a family tree, this story goes below the surface and into the roots — especially when you consider the four T-Wolves, and their parents, weren’t even supposed to be there.
No more kids
As our 33-year-old father laid in a Utah Valley Hospital bed in 1973, having just won a round with cancer, the doctor broke the news about some collateral damage.
“He said, ‘It’s a good thing you already have your family,’” Mom remembered. “Because you aren’t going to have any more children.”
Six of us McCanns were already here, but our parents felt there were more waiting to come. Despite the infertility forecast from the medical staff, Molly, Deven, Macy and Marc arrived to the family over a five-year period between 1976 and 1981.
Four miracles, five players
A second round of cancer, along with a variety of complications, took Dad’s life in March 1998. The only season he missed watching his “mostly” athletic family was Marc’s senior year as quarterback at Orem High.
Prior to his first game, Marc stayed behind while the team left the locker room. An assistant coach came back looking for him and found the 17-year-old kneeling next to his locker writing “Dad” on his cleats with a black sharpie. He wasn’t going to take the field without him.
Fast forward 25 years to Friday night, Cache (Deven), Dash and Zack (Marc) and Josh (Macy) all ran out of the Timpanogos locker room with Deven. Meanwhile, over in Colorado Springs, Tyce (Molly) suited up as a junior receiver for Pine Creek High.
Five football players from four miracles — a show not even the Earth, moon and sun could steal, let alone eclipse.
Family history
Eclipses, in their variety of forms, happen frequently, with the next ones scheduled on March 24 (lunar), April 8 (solar) and Sept. 17 (lunar), in 2024. But for the six cousins and a coach participating in and around the same game, on the same field, on the same night, under the same stars in Spanish Fork, Utah, the likelihood of a repeat occurrence is slim to none — and that’s what made it special.
There is science, family science and sports science. Individually, each can produce amazing moments, but when they all come together, as they did for the McCanns last Friday the 13th, the supernatural can happen — and it was super!
Dave McCann is a contributor to the Deseret News and is the studio host for “BYU Sports Nation Game Day,” “The Post Game Show,” “After Further Review,” and play-by-play announcer for BYUtv. He is also co-host of “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com.