High School Football: A Short Story

Walking out onto the opponent’s brightly lit turf field setting up for the kickoff of the second half just gave me the feeling that everybody knows, my hair starts to stand up, butterflies began to flutter in my stomach, and everything seems to slow down. Looking into the stands and seeing that our hometown fans had traveled four hours in order to outdo the home crowd gave me a sense of comfort. Looking into East Jefferson’s stands and seeing that our fans, despite having to travel all the way down south, outnumbered their fans by at least 70 people. I found myself thinking that this meant just as much to our town as it did to our school and team. This feeling would be just the motivation we needed in order to finish this game

Additionally, the games were segregated with the white reserved section having the best seats in the stadium. The tradition eventually ended in the mid-1960s when the schools became a part of the University Interscholastic League (UIL), which meant that the season ended before Thanksgiving. The rivalry was never the same after the end of this beloved tradition; however, in recent years there have been attempts to reignite the passion within the rivalry with the help of Nike, the athletic brand, who recently released a video on Twitter that showcased the Yates and Wheatley High School football teams and how impactful football is on both schools in their recovery from Hurricane Harvey. Although the rivalry is not as potent as it once

We got changed in the locker room, listening to music that would get our adrenaline pumping. The game started with a tip-off with us getting the ball and scoring on the first play, but so did the other team. The game was very close. We would score, they would score. No one ever got ahead by more than four points. At the end of the second quarter with ten seconds left, it was their ball and we were down by two. They did a nice play and a girl got a wide open three pointer. Then the buzzer went off and we all looked at our fuming coach and knew what was about to come at half time. You know that scene in the movie, “42” about Jackie Robinson, where the other teams coach is yelling at him saying rude things? And then there’s the heartbreakingly beautiful scene where Jackie goes into the dugout and breaks his bat and screams and cries. That’s what our halftime was like. The coach yelling and us wanting to scream and cry, but still we had determination to win this game. We came back out ready to play and immediately tied it back it up. The game kept going back and forth, until the fourth quarter with a minute left and us up by four. The other teams coach called a timeout and our coach gave us a speech about if we wanted to win, we needed teamwork. Teamwork just like Jackie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers. We came back out and held the game at four points until the buzzer went

It was a cold fall day during football season, a saturday to be exact. J.T. woke up and was excited to play his first ever youth playoff football game. The loveland Tigers 3rd grade football team played the other 3rd grade team from Loveland, it was the Loveland showdown. J.T. ate two egg and 3 pieces bacon for breakfast every morning because he thought it was good luck. Since J.T.’s dad was the head coach of the football team they had to wake up early and go to the field so that they were the first ones there. J.T. helped his dad set up the field by putting up the pile-ons and goal post protectors, then they patiently waited for other players on the team to show up, so that they could begin warm-ups.

Football at Dewitt High School is probably the biggest thing at our school. Friday nights, the town closes down and everyone is at the stadium. Being on varsity as a sophomore was a cool experience even tho I wasn't on at the beginning of the season. In my eyes football is the hardest sport for men athletes, the fear that someone is always behind you and that there is the constant fear that you wont be on your game for the scouts that are there. To get a D1 scholarship you must be a freak. The kids coming out of high school and into college are unreal. So many kids that have some talent, and their parents run with that idea of them getting a scholarship. I have seen with my own eyes kids break under the pressure of either their parents or other

Friday nights during the fall season are what every high school football player looks forward to. After a long week of being yelled at, running hills, and practicing, all any high school football player wants to do is run out of the tunnel with the crowd screaming your name and gear up for a football game. However, I was not a Varsity player during the 2017-17 season. I played only Junior Varsity which was nowhere near the same as Varsity football. I played on Monday nights and only about thirty people would take the time to show up to a Junior Varsity game. Although, one Friday night would change my football career and change my life.

On the field I’ve first hand experience of what a great team, we had when our varsity would completely destroy our JV team in practice on anywhere on the field. There linemen would go through our linemen like there was nobody blocking them, the linebacker would make sure there was no hole to run through for our offence, but most of all their tenacity was something else. I mean, during our homecoming game in the first half we were down 0-21 with most of our heads down. Then you hear one of our linebackers at the top his lungs “IT’S NOT OVER YET!!” Standing right in the middle of the locker room. “Everyone bleeds, I bleed, you bleed, and they bleed too!” “They hit us hard and now we need to fight back!” After hearing those words, it looked like we were the same team before the game even started. Slowly we start clawing back into the game. They scored just to get barely ahead of us and after we had just scored too. At the last minute we were able to get them to punt, to the person who lead our running backs and who was the punt returner, Caleb Brown. Catches it around the sideline, tackle missed, keep on going to the sideline, passing more people, cuts to the inside, another tackle missed, makes another cut to the inside, passes more people, has a guy chasing him, tackle made… in the end zone for the touchdown. The place went absolutely crazy, not just one person, but everyone was yelling on the sideline, the feeling at that time felt so amazing to see that play happening on the sidelines. 35-31, We won the game, this is a moment I will never forget for the rest of my life, when I witnessed a group of teammates never giving up to prevail at the last minute. Then we went

It was a brisk fall evening, and my seventh grade youth football team and I had traveled to Aberdeen to play the undefeated Chiefs. We had worked harder and longer than we ever had that week to show that we were a threat in the league and ascend from our third place ranking. We knew it was not going to be easy; the Chiefs’ team had the fastest running back in our division, and they had scored more total points per game than any other team in the Southeast Idaho Youth Football League. The field was neater and greener than we had expected in this town. It was a great day for football, and I was with all of my best friends. I knew going in that it was going to be a learning experience whether we won or lost that night because the Chiefs were

The team had huddled up around the coach as he was going over the game plan. The team was as focused as can be no movement was made in that circle. We bent a knee into the wet grass looking up at our coach rain falling from the dark sky above he gave us a motivation speech. Being the Quarter-back I ran out onto the field first with my team behind me we met face to face with the enemy at the 50

The camera sprang to life. Cantilevered out on its metal arm, the camera, the culmination of weeks of work on top of years of experience, began filming its first game.

Right before kick off, the boys huddled in a circle and chanted the familiar words Coach Peters says to them every day. At first the rest of the cheerleaders and I couldn’t hear very well, but then we heard the words, “Won’t be beat.” As the football players repeated those words, so did we. Our school was finally becoming a true Falcon family. We all had the same goal, “Be great at everything,” as Coach Peters says. As my team and I lined up on the side of the field for the kick off, I could hear the rustling of the poms like leaves on a windy autumn day. Standing next to my team, all I could smell was hairspray and perfume; because of course cheerleaders have to look good 24/7, right? As West kicked the ball and the game officially started, I heard the huge roar of the crowd. There were so many people and they were all so loud that it sounded like I was at an NFL game or some extravagant

The sound of the loud buzzer ended, and the cheers of the winning team began as I walked to our bench. While lining up to shake the hands of our opponents, I felt the heart-ache that we were experiencing from the loss of the hard fought battle. Looking up into the stands seeing our fans with the same disappointed faces as the rest of the team had, I soon knew this was an experience that would not be forgotten anytime soon.

Almost two years ago, while everyone else was fixated on school, I could not believe what I was in the midst of. My soccer team was venturing to state for the first time in school history, boys or girls! Nothing will ever compare to that exhilarating moment. This experience showed me that hard work does pay off, and the friends that I made will last a lifetime. Having the opportunity to stand on the biggest stage in high school soccer was incomprehensibly elating. I will never forget the gripping time I persevered to the state championship.

The following week was our next game and we were extremely ready. We practiced everyday as hard as we could because we knew how close we were to the championship I could almost feel it. The team we were playing was the saints and they seemed as ready has us, but we knew we were going to come out on top. In the first five inning both teams didn't score or get any hits. It wasn't until the the seventh inning when until any one got a hit. It was a little blooper over the second baseman's head for a single that's when we got fired up. The next at bat a double down the third base side was hit. Now there was runners on third and second with no outs, this was our chance to take the lead. The next batter up popped up the first pitch to the catcher

Before every football game, I get my football pants on and I gather all of my gear. I get my helmet and pads and I put them together somewhere. I then grab my jersey and put it over my shoulder pads.