NATCHEZ &8212; As is typical any final game of the season, plenty of folks at Adams Christian wanted to show head coach Bobby Marks appreciation for the season.

But the veteran coach had more important things to address. He gave his wife of 48 years, Neet, a kiss before the two loaded up the car and drove away.

No matter how the season would have ended &8212; win or lose, playoffs or not &8212; that&8217;s likely how the veteran coach would have made his exit. Neet Marks has battled renal cell cancer, and doctors told the family they expect her to lose that battle in three months&8217; time.

That left Marks with the task of trying to concentrate on football the final two games of the season when his most important team &8212; his family &8212; was facing fourth and long.

&8220;I&8217;ll be trying to take care of my wife,&8221; said Marks, whose club fell 20-12 to Brookhaven Academy. &8220;That&8217;s a hard job. I&8217;ve been with her all night and all day. It&8217;s got me stressed out.

&8220;A thousand people hugged her neck (at the Riverfield game). We&8217;ve had some good times. A lot of good things have happened.&8221;

For Neet, she had perhaps the biggest smile through it all on a chilly night at the stadium named after her husband. She was able to stay warm with a blanket signed by all the players and a cap signed by members of the school&8217;s dancing team.

She could also stay in the car while it was parked on the track with their dog, Bo, or sit with family in town from Memphis.

Yet, the loss to end the season was just like any other that ends the season. There&8217;s not much to smile about.

&8220;These kids &8212; they&8217;re my heart,&8221; Neet said. &8220;I just hate it so bad for the kids. The seniors &8212; it was their last game. It doesn&8217;t get any easier. Bobby is going through so much with me, and to do this.&8221;

Yet there was the coach&8217;s wife on the sideline after the game, surrounded by family, hugging players as if they were her own children. That&8217;s how it&8217;s always been for her all the years being a coach&8217;s wife before her husband first retired 13 years ago.

&8220;I just got real close to this bunch of kids,&8221; Neet said. &8220;They&8217;re a good, good bunch of boys. I had a friend tell me one time she had the worst job for sure. Her husband had coached for one year, and it was hard being a coach&8217;s wife. Being a coach&8217;s wife, you have to get involved in it.&8221;

The cancer, however, put a damper on everything for most of the season for the family, which includes sons Rusty and Byrnsie serving as assistants. Marks said one reason he chose retirement was after his wife was first diagnosed with cancer, but it went into remission.

During the summer it flared up again, and since then the two have made hospital visits in Houston. There family friend Mickey Gilley &8212; who lives in nearby Pasadena &8212; has offered his assistance.

&8220;She&8217;s handled it well,&8221; Byrnsie said. &8220;She&8217;s putting the team before herself, and she was there for (Bobby). They all support her. You can see it in their eyes. They all came over here when the game was over.&8221;

It&8217;s been nearly two weeks since she received the prognosis, and it&8217;s been tough on the family and the entire AC school community. Now that the season is over, Marks and his wife will do some traveling &8212; Branson, Mo., is a likely destination.

&8220;She&8217;s held this family together for years, and she&8217;s done a good job,&8221; Rusty Marks said. &8220;She raised us right. We married good women, and we raised our children right. It revolves around her. We&8217;ve put it now in God&8217;s hands. I said God has done his work.&8221;

The season has been a positive one for the family, even despite the disappointment of not making the playoffs at 7-3. Marks has not only been a head coach for the football team but a grandfather of sorts to the players.

No player left the team for academic reasons, Rusty said.

&8220;They&8217;re asking me (to come back),&8221; Bobby Marks said. &8220;It&8217;s going to depend on my health. It&8217;s going to depend on my knee operation.&8221;

Don&8217;t be surprised to see him return for one more year, his son said.

&8220;I was against him coming back,&8221; Rusty said. &8220;I think God put him back into coaching knowing this would all come out like this. (If not,) he would have grieved himself to death. He let him retire at 59 without a retirement and allowed them to spend 13 years together.&8221;