Touchdown: A Short Story

The ball flew into the air and landed in the grass behind my team who was trying to catch the ball, it gave me some confidence and it felt like I do

It’s the last game of the season 1 minute left in the fourth quarter. You have the football in your hands; you weave in and out of defenders trying to score and BANG… You get tackled and slammed to the ground causing you to bounce your helmet off of the hard turf. You're slow to get up and you’re coach pulls you out for a play to check to see if you’re ok. You tell him you’re good that you simply just “got your bell rung”; you tell him that your team needs you. He questions the decision, but he tells you to strap your helmet back on and get out there. The next play you feel sluggish but you play through it, the quarterback snaps the ball and hands it off to you, running straight through

As I got settled in the dugout, I heard my coach yell, ¨Michael, youŕe batting second in the lineup, and

It was that time of the year again, football season. Football is a sport in which I am very passionate about, I never knew I could or would be so passionate towards something, until one very specific game. It was a Saturday afternoon, the breeze was just right, the temperature was just right; not to cold and not too hot. Being the first game of the season I didn’t know if I was going to play or not. However, I was proven wrong Coach Smith hollered “Shawn!” I stood up startled at first and right then and there I knew that was my moment to shine and shine is what I did.

I worked out everyday and practiced every chance I got. When the first day of tryouts came around again, I woke up that morning like every other day, but I knew today was different. I knew that today was the day I was going to redeem myself. When I got to the field most of the guys looked familiar, a few of them even joked around with me and asked "you're back for more?" Unlike the previuos year, I was ready for this tryout. I proved to everyone that doubted me and said I couldn't and I earned my spot on that team. The moment I saw my name on the team's roster was one of my proudest

The day the team got together and fought threw a tough battle facing pinnacle high school. It was our second home game and our record was 1-2. After all of the hard work we had put in over summer, we realized we could not lose, especially in front of our home crowd. At the beginning of the game we did our usual warm-ups, I have never felt so much adrenaline pushing threw my veins in my life. After the warm-ups the whole team got in a big huddle, we chanted a chant that will never be forgotten and one day make history for the pride. After the chant we got ready for kick-off, lined up and ready to go. The crowd started cheering at the first 2 seconds of the game “go pride go, go pride go”. This made the whole team nervous, not just because there was so many

The boisterous music is blasting while our coach and the captains try to have some thoughts about the game. “Turn the music off guys, it’s time for our speech”, he shouted across the locker rooms. Everyone went forward to the board while he stand and waited for his team to listen. While he went over our goal for the day and tell us that we shouldn’t play below our standard there is a look on each player face like they are ready and prepare for anything to happen on the field. After that motivation speech we all tuck our shirt in our shorts and simultaneously lace our shoes.

With my eyes glued to the ball. Just waiting for the center to snap it to the quarterback I made sure my cleats were dug in and ready to go. As the center moved the ball I charged forward shoving the center out of the way and slamming my shoulder into the quarterback and taking him down before he had a chance to blink. After the play, there was time to think to myself about the past week, the events that had transpired, the important decision I had made, and about that one sunny day at practice.

We had the six point lead with only three minutes left, and we were confident that our defense would hold them as we had all day. The first play of the drive resulted in a long touchdown from none other than the running back. They decided to go for the one extra point to take the lead, and they converted with ease. We were tired and worn out, and we failed to score again. I was aggravated.

With the opening my interception play had given my team a moral boost to a point I’ve never seen my teammates play before. The game was electrifying the parents and all enjoyed watching. You could tell from all the noise it was exciting to watch us play. I was proud of myself that day. To be the weakest link on the team to becoming a leader a positive influence, from that day forward I knew football was what I loved to do and play.

I looked up at the scoreboard and the time read 8 minutes left. As I looked at the scoreboard I felt a jolt of energy enter my body. I had felt as if a fire was lit under me. My eyes opened as if I had just seen a ghost. I remember thinking to myself, “how can we lose this game?” I made a promise to myself that I would win 4 state titles while being at Battlefield High School. This was my sophomore year of high school and I had already won one state title, how could I give up now and let my dreams be crushed, I worked too hard for that to happen. In that moment I knew there was only one result I was going to walk off the field with, and that was with a win and another State Championship. I took a deep breath and thought to myself, “My team needs energy. They need a leader.”

I can remember two plays vividly. The first was when I played fullback. It was third and long which is more times than not a passing situation, but this time the coach put his faith in me to make the first down. I remember getting the hand off and was running to the left. I got through the hole and saw a defender. I lowered my shoulder and ran over him, but I wasn’t to the first down yet. All of a sudden there were four people on me and I had my mind made up that I wasn’t going to let my team down, so I kept my legs driving carrying people and finally made it to the first down. Right there I knew that I could be a great player. The second play was a defensive play. The opposing team was up by three points and time was running out. The coach yelled from the sideline “We need a play,” so I took it upon myself to be the playmaker. The ball was snapped, it was a toss to my left. I saw the running back sprinting out and I took my pursuit angle. I met him head up and he started to go down and in the back of my mind I heard my coach’s voice and that made me do something I had never done. I stripped the ball out of his hand and ran for a touchdown. My team won. The next phase of my football career was about to begin now, middle school.

I came back to my sense and I question the coach with excitement “did we win the game!”

Then we slowly ran onto the field as both fans were cheering for their team. As we were on the field in our formation it was dead silent, so quiet you could hear your own heart beating faster and faster as the referee was getting ready to blow the whistle to indicate the start of the game. During the first 5 minutes of the game it was nonstop running with sweat running down your face due to the rough heat. After the first 10 minutes we were already really tired

I had turned on my Stone Age Xbox and begun to play the newly minted Madden 09 video