Watch This Rockaway High School Football Coach Deliver The Pep Talk Of The Year

Hurricane Sandy devastated the Rockaway Peninsula, destroying homes and flooding the region. Residents found themselves scattered to wherever shelter might be found, and schools closed indefinitely.

One of those schools, Beach Channel, had qualified for the high school football playoffs. It wasn't clear, though, if they'd be able to compete— the team's equipment had been washed out by the storm, and they lacked a locker room and practice facilities (their football field had been turned into an emergency helipad). Only 15% of the school's students showed up on the first day of classes at a temporary location.

So when coach Victor Nazario organized his team before Saturday's playoff game against Staten Island's Port Richmond Red Raiders, he found 25 eager, hungry, and tired players before him. He delivered the speech you see above, captured by New York City education blog Gotham Schools. Sadly, there's no Hollywood ending to this story—Beach Channel's season ended in a 38-6 loss. Senior wide receiver Justin Zemser was already looking past the game, though:

Now we gotta go fix this town up.

[ "For storm-swept Rockaway football team, a brief bright moment," GothamSchools.org]