1,072. That was the number that kept racing through my head after I woke up this past Friday morning. I knew that it was 1,072 days since our small town Varsity football team, the Greyhounds, had won a game at home.
Now you may be thinking that maybe, for some odd reason, they just perform better with Away games – nope. The count for the last Away game win was well over 700 days. To put it succinctly, Varsity football in our hometown has been going through a rough patch.
This past Friday came with nerves, and some hopeful expectations. The team that we were playing was 0-2. It was our first home game of the season and the boys were feeling optimistic. Kaleb was playing Center and Keegan was Quarterback and Safety. I was a nervous wreck.
I teach at the elementary school, directly across from our high school. My husband and daughter met me in the classroom at the end of the school day and we headed over to the stadium about an hour before game time. It was early, but there were already quite a few people lining up for concessions while others were scoping out the best seating options.
The Importance of a Good ‘Spot’
I knew where I was heading. I have a spot. My typical place to watch the game is near the railing, close to the field, so I can hear refs, coaches, and just basically watch the game without talking to anyone. I don’t even sit with the rest of my family. I just have my own space, and that’s it. It sounds crazy and I don’t even care.
When I arrived at the south end of the field, I was met by signs on the railings that read, ‘Student Section.’ The school had moved the Student Section to be closer to the band. I just stopped and stared. To some, this is not a big deal. To an introvert that likes to plan her public outings, it’s somewhat of an issue.
Terrific. It was not the way I was hoping the football night would start. I walked around a little, told my husband of my dilemma, and then settled on standing at the railing on the north side of the stadium where the Student Section had been located prior to this year. (My husband is used to my ‘issues’ and listened with a sympathetic ear.) Maybe it was a sign. Hopefully the change in my ‘spot’ would somehow alter the typical outcome of our football games. Who knows?
Game Time
Kick-off came quickly and people just kept streaming in. I was absolutely amazed at the generous support from the community. Everyone seemed to be at the game. We’ve always had great attendance from the community, but it has to be hard to come to game after game and have your home team lose time and time again. You would not have known our record by looking at the amount of people in the stands. The support was staggering.
Many of the kids running around the bleachers and hanging on the rails, knew me from school. The majority of them had their football jerseys on, representing their own teams that would be playing Youth Football games the next day, my daughter included. The stands were packed, the Student Section was hyped up, and the band was playing the school Fight Song. Now we just needed to have a good game.
Our Greyhounds did not disappoint. By the end of the first quarter it was 8-0 us. At the end of the first half, it was 14-0. If you had been from out of town, and just happened to be there at the stadium, you would have thought we were leading in a Championship game. The excitement in the air was electrifying.
I have to take a minute to mention that the stadium has new lighting that was recently installed this past summer. The system has a strobe light feature where the announcers can push a button and the lights flash with different colors. Having the lights flash when we scored both of the touchdowns, added to the overall celebratory atmosphere of the night.
The second half was not as exciting, as far as scoring for the Greyhounds. The other team ended up with a touchdown and 2 extra points, making the score at the beginning of the fourth quarter, 14-8.
Greyhound Victory!
When the fourth quarter came, we kept changing possessions. With only seconds to go in the game, the other team had the ball down near the 10 yard line. It was 4th and 1, and Keegan ended up getting the tackle for the turnover on downs. We went into a victory formation after that and the game was over. We had pulled it off. It was a Greyhound victory, ending the terribly long losing streak from our Varsity Football program.
At the end of the game, I looked around at the stands. Everyone was on their feet, cheering and clapping, long after they should have been gathering their belongings and heading out to their vehicles. It was as if they wanted to extend the moment as long as they could. The players were jumping around and celebrating in front of the student section, before they headed to the center of the field to do some victory push-ups. At that moment, for those players, life didn’t get any better than what it was on that particular Friday night.
Making the Most of Those Special Moments
There are times in your life that you know you are living in a moment that means something. I am not going to say that the victory on Friday night was equivalent to the day my kids were born, or to my wedding day, but it was certainly a day to remember. The night was going to be relived in my boys’ memories for awhile.
The celebration that started on the field did not end right away. It seemed as if the entire Student Section had moved to the doors near the locker room so that they could talk and relive highlights with the players after they changed out of their uniforms. Kids were taking pictures and videos to post on Social Media later. They were laughing and it was complete high school craziness. I couldn’t help but watch from my parked truck with a smile on my face.
I texted my boys and told them where I was parked and to take their time. There wasn’t any reason to rush. Who was I to end their celebration early, especially when I didn’t know when their next football win would happen? It wasn’t long and Keegan texted, ‘Darbs?’ He wanted us to go out to eat with some friends. I responded with a ‘sounds good to me’ and before I knew it, we were off to the restaurant.
Perfect Ending to a Perfect Evening
We ended the night eating mozzarella sticks and listening to the boys retell their own versions of the different plays of the game. Our football team players and parents took over the restaurant and moved tables into a long, family-style, seating arrangement. We were noisy, boisterous, and full of happiness. When the head football coach arrived, the restaurant broke out into applause. It was just that kind of night.
I sat across from my two boys and their long-time friend since kindergarten, Hayden Ray. The three were sweaty, smelly, and on top of the world. I couldn’t help but think back to all of the other times we’ve came to the exact same restaurant to celebrate wins, whether from basketball, baseball, or Youth Football. This was the boys’ first football win as Varsity players. They are only in their Sophomore year so I’m hoping we have many more to go.
If you made it this far, thank you for putting up with my ramblings. Hopefully, even if you are not a fan of sports, you leave this blog post with the idea that this story was more about possibilities, than it was about football. It’s about dreams and challenging yourself, along with resiliency and believing nothing is impossible.
Goals for Today:
- Clean the Porch
- Spend Time Cooking a Favorite Meal
- Sit by the Bonfire