It was the first game of the Ballard Knights Pee-Wee football team's 1999 season. They were facing off against one of their main rivals, Richmond Blue, and the offensive coordinator was not going to be able to make it to the game.

Mark Donnelly, assistant offensive coordinator, was ready to step up but head coach Sean Austin said there was no way he was going to let Donnelly call the offense.

"I wouldn't even let him coach a play," Austin said. "The year after that, he took the same team (at the Bantam level) and won four straight championships. From that point on, no one questioned his coaching skills."

Mark Donnelly, a Ballard Junior Football coach for nearly a decade, passed away Jan. 3 at the age of 35 after a private battle with cancer.

All told, Donnelly coached in six championship games, won five of them, and touched the lives of countless young people during his years with Ballard football.

"In my opinion, he was one of he greatest coaches ever," said Rick Alba, who coached with Donnelly for a number of years.

Cathy Miller, a friend of Donnelly's whose two sons played for him, said he was their favorite coach. He taught them how to play but used humor instead of yelling or screaming. Her sons felt that Donnelly understood them, she said.

Marshall Airey, another coach whose son played for Donnelly, said Donnelly was coaching the players, mostly ages 11 to 13, at a point when they were starting to think of themselves as young men.

"He didn't treat anybody like a little kid," said Airey's son Frank, 14, who played for Donnelly two years ago. "He treated them like grown men and spoke to them like that."

Miller said she found out third-hand that Donnelly had cancer last spring. Donnelly made it clear that it was private and he didn't want people to know. He was a private person and didn't even let his close friends know until the fall, she said.

Airey said he only learned Donnelly was ill after Thanksgiving.

"I guess Mark just didn't want anyone to feel bad or sorry for him," he said.

Donnelly coached the whole 2008 Bantam season knowing he wouldn't be living long, Airey said.

"He brought the potential out of the players even as he was dying," he said.

Holly Diehl, Frank's mother, said Donnelly was excellent at developing players and used funny catch phrases, few of which are appropriate for print, to motivate them.

Donnelly could be gruff and a bit foul, but the players loved him, Airey said. He said Donnelly would usually hold team meetings about 60 yards away from the parents so they wouldn't be able to hear some of his more off-color remarks.

"Sometimes I would creep up to get an earful," Airey said. "He had an incredible sense of humor and was very quick-witted. He treated the boys as men and I think the players found it almost refreshing to be spoken to as grownups."

Miller said she could see how much her children wanted to do well for Donnelly. If he told them to be at practice at 5 p.m., they would make sure to be there at 4:45 p.m., she said.

"The pride that he felt in them really stands out in their minds," she said.

Diehl said she believes Ballard Junior Football was the focus of Donnelly's life. He kept a scrapbook of newspaper clippings following all of his former players, she said.

"He tracked any kid he ever coached," Airey said. "I thought that was pretty impressive for a 35-year-old guy."

Donnelly's dedication to the Ballard Knights was especially phenomenal because he was a volunteer who had no children in the league, Miller said.

Miller said she thinks Donnelly fought the cancer hard in order to get through the 2008 Bantams season and to watch his former player Taylor Mays, the University of Southern California's star safety, play in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.

A memorial service was held for Donnelly Jan. 17 in the Loyal Heights Community Center. Former players wore their game jerseys as a tribute.

"I know they really loved him," Alba said. "He made kids love football."

Michael Harthorne may be contacted at 783.1244 or michaelh@robinsonnews.com.