‘Football was his first love.’

On a rainy October night, Athens was losing 15-6 to PORTA in the annual Blacktop Braggin’ Rights game. The three-year-old football team, who’d won only one game in the previous two varsity seasons, looked to their captain to clinch not only the win, but also their first winning record.

With six minutes left on the clock, senior receiver Adam “Paddy” Padget stepped up the game. The wide receiver caught a pass from quarterback Korey Kern and ran the field for a 70-yard touchdown. Then, with one minute remaining, the team unleashed the “Adam Bomb.” Kern threw the football to Padget, who passed it to teammate Justin Hankins to score another touchdown.

Athens football fans will always remember that the Warriors won the game 18-15, edging PORTA out of its state playoffs’ spot and finally taking it for themselves after a victory over Mendon Unity the next week. But what fans will probably remember more is seeing Padget, dropped to one knee on the muddy field after the game, exhausted and overcome with emotion.

“The tears were coming out,” says David Padget, Adam’s dad. “They went from losing every game for the first two years to going to the playoffs. They came a long way in a little bit of time.”

It became the game of the 18-year-old’s career, forever stamped into the minds and hearts of those who loved him.

At 1:16 a.m. on June 4, Padget died at St. John’s Hospital, two hours after his Dodge Neon crashed into a light pole on Sherman Boulevard near Carter Brothers Lumber Co. and two days before his high school graduation. The cause of the accident has never been determined.

Padget was born on Nov. 6, 1990. He grew up in Springfield, but moved with his parents to Athens in 2001. He was all teenager — he loved McDonald’s chicken nuggets, Reese’s candy, rap music, Hollister clothes and horror movies. He spent a lot of time at his grandma’s house and always had his cocker spaniel Leo at his side. He had a deep rooted love for the Philadelphia Eagles and hoped to one day play for the NFL team.

He excelled in high school, finishing his four years as an honor student who also helped his friends pass tough classes. Mike Curry, principal of Athens High School, says Padget was an “all-around good kid” who worked hard in school, but even harder in sports.

“Football was his first love,” Curry says.

“When he came to school during football season, you could tell that he carried himself like he was proud to be on the football team.”

Padget was a freshman when he signed up to be one of the first players on Athens’ first football team. He’d never played before, and mom Terri Padget was apprehensive at first because he was so thin. Then she found out he’d been throwing the football with friends across the street from the new coach’s house.

“I saw him playing catch,” then-Athens football coach Joey Dion says. “I couldn’t wait to see people with a football in their hands, and I went out and met them. They surfaced all the time from that point forward.

“I learned later that they loved the game of football and wanted to show the new coach their skills.”

Dion, who coached before he started the football program at Athens, says that Padget was the perfect player. They developed a comfortable friendship — Padget watched TV at his house with other teammates and once helped find the coach’s dogs after they escaped. Even if they didn’t always see eye-toeye on the field, Dion says, he respected Padget and could always count on him.

“He was a very good football player, athletically,” Dion says, “but what set him apart was his commitment and dedication. He knew what he needed to do to be successful. And people followed him.”

David and Terri Padget watched their son grow to a 6-foot-1, 170-pound leader who inspired his team before, during and after each game. Known not only for game-saving plays and for showing his soul on the field, Padget also captured the hearts of fans by running the school’s flag out to midfield and waving it to rev up the team. It was important to him, and this year, Athens asked his dad to do the honors at their first home game on Aug. 28.

“They asked if I wanted to walk it out, and I said, ‘No, Adam never walked it out,’” David Padget says. “I ran it out.”

For someone so young, Padget touched hundreds of lives in Athens and surrounding communities. The PORTA football team gave the ball from that legendary October game to his parents. It’s now displayed in a glass case at the entrance to Athens High School, with the inscription “Eternal Warrior, #4, Adam ‘Paddy’ Padget, Blacktop Braggin’ Rights 2008” and a photograph of a smiling football player holding a hard-earned trophy. A memorial tree and stone in his name were also placed near the school’s sports complex.

Like many athletes, Padget became the number he wore on his jersey. From the time he died until the time he was buried, Athens lit up its stadium scoreboard with 4’s. Friends and family will always wear his number on shirts, necklaces and tattoos.

“Football was his life,” Curry says. “No one was given the number 4 this season.”

— Amanda Robert