Chapter 13
All through the week, practices were crisper. With a real game scheduled for Friday, everybody had more energy and was in a better mood, even Ichabod.
There was no doubt all the preliminary stuff was over and it was time to get ready for the real deal.
The night before the first game, practically the whole town got together downtown for a pep rally. It had become a tradition over the years on the night prior to the first game.
The band played, the cheerleaders did their thing and the players stated how good their team would be this year. The fans cheered, clapped, hollered and make lots of noise.
This team was different. The coaches noticed it early and continued to see it every day. They were serious about changing what happened over the last two years. The coaches saw the determination and chemistry of the team. Cole’s best teams were that way. He knew this team had a chance to be good, mainly because of the defense, but there were a lot of questions that needed to be answered before this team was measured along with some of his better teams.
Cole had been through this many times but it still gave him goosebumps. There was such excitement among the crowd, he almost wished he could put on the pads again.
Petros’ band finished up the pep rally with the school song. The whole crowd clapped and sang along, the music echoing off the downtown buildings. Cole looked around at the crowd, amazed at what he saw. He always expected the band, cheerleaders, team and some students to show up. But it looked like the whole town was there, not just to be seen but to offer support.
When he got home, Cole read the Bible and tried to relax. He knew sleep would not come easy and it didn’t.
Down the hallway, his youngest son was fighting the same battle. It was like he drank too much caffeine and was paying the price, although water was the only thing Lucky drank. He was nervous and couldn’t stay still. Sleep refused to come so he thought about the game. Lucky couldn’t remember being this nervous. He always had trouble sleeping the night before games, even as a little boy. Now that Lucky was playing for the varsity, it made sleeping even harder.
Lucky had not missed a game in ten years, always dreaming about the day when he got to wear the uniform and play before the huge crowd. Now, that time had arrived. Lucky was finally a Petros Panther and it seemed unreal.
He knew it would be rough sitting on the bench since he wanted to contribute so bad, but also knew why his playing would be limited. He was only a sophomore and there were a lot of talented juniors and seniors available. Lucky knew Ichabod planned to use him some on defense and he hoped to contribute.
Sleep finally won the battle well after midnight, but it wasn’t a night of peaceful dreams. Not on this night, with football finally starting the following evening.
-----------------
When the alarm clock went off, Lucky thought there was no way it was already time to get up. That was followed by the realization it was game day. Despite the lack of sleep, this was not one of those mornings when it was hard to get out of bed and start the day. He hopped out of the bed and hurried to the shower, already excited about the game.
The day dragged on and seemed to take forever. He had a hard time paying attention in class, his thoughts on the game, not the fall of Rome or a subjective verb.
The final bell tolled, sending the students home for the weekend. Lucky and his father got together around five to eat at the Downtown Cafe. They each had a small steak, baked potato and salad. Cole hated eating before games, as did his son, but they forced it down, wanting to make sure they had enough energy.
Cole went back to the stadium, walking the field to make sure everything was ready. As he walked off the field, the first bus from Conser drove into the parking lot.
He stood for a minute, watching his opponents exit the bus. Cole always felt like he could learn a lot by watching how players on other teams acted at a time like this. When he saw most of the Conser players laughing and joking, it made Cole feel better. When a team acted like that, it usually meant the team either didn’t care, which Cole knew wasn’t the case, or felt overconfident.
The first group of Petros players started arriving a little before six. They walked to their lockers, finally getting to see their white helmets adorned with the black numbers on both sides. Inside the lockers were the uniforms with the black shirts with white numbers and solid black pants.
The black shoes were shined, as were the white helmets. Unlike other schools, the players did not wear their jerseys to school on game day. They wore them to the pep rally the previous night, then turned them in before going home. The players only wore their jerseys the day of a game during playoffs, a tradition that had been going on forever and made those games even more special.
The players looked out on the field, seeing Conser’s players already taking the field in their road uniforms with silver helmets and pants, white shirts with blue numbers and their last names on the back.
The Cowboys certainly looked impressive as they entered the field. Cole knew Conser was loaded with good athletes every year, but the Cowboys looked even more impressive this year.
Conser had almost seventy players dress out. The stands on both sides were filled nearly half an hour before kickoff. By gametime, there were almost as many fans standing along the chainlink fences and in the endzone as there were in the stands.
It was a hot, late-summer evening. The sun would not set until thirty minutes after the game started. Everybody knew it would be hot and came prepared, not that it really helped. The only people happy with this heat were the band parents in the concession stands, knowing they would have a good night selling soft drinks and bottled waters.
Cole was never big on pre-game talks when his players were ready to play and his team was good to go. He didn’t need to dwell on the nightmare from the previous year. All the players remembered and were determined not to let history repeat.
After Pastor Furman led the team in prayer, Cole walked to the front of the room and cleared his throat.
“This is it, boys,” he began. The players were seated in chairs in front of their lockers, getting last drinks before taking the field. “You guys have the chance to do something special tonight and this year.
“We have a long way to go and this is the first step. Don’t think about anything tonight other than winning this game.”
He stopped and got a drink, his mouth dry and voice scratchy.
“On offense, we need to control the ball,” he advised. “Keep cranking out those first downs. Conser can’t score if we have the ball and take care of it. On defense, don’t give up the big plays. Make them earn everything.
“Give everything you’ve got. This is our time. Play like you’re capable. You know and I know nobody outside this room believes we can win. I’d like to prove something tonight and get off to a good start. Play like a Petros Panther! Hit them like they’ve never hit been hit before. When they think they can’t take anymore, hit them even harder!”
When Cole finished, the players jumped up from their chairs, swarming to the door leading toward the field. The players shouted and pounded each other. They gathered together in the end zone close to the goalpost.
As the fans saw the players, a roar rose from the home side. The players waited until everybody was present and then took off down the long spirit line, two lines consisting of fans, the band and cheerleaders.
The band played the school song as the players ran through the narrow tunnel. Everybody on the home side stood, clapped along with the song and hollered encouragement.
Lucky had goosebumps while going through the spirit line, a moment he had dreamed of for many years. He tried to remember everything, from the sounds to the looks on the faces of the fans as they shouted encouragement. Lucky was near the back and saw the first wave of players bust through the banner urging the Panthers to cream the Cowboys.
The Panthers jogged down to the end zone then back to midfield. The captains from both sides were meeting in the center of the field, listening to the officials’ instructions. Petros won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. Conser choose to receive while the Panthers elected to defend the north goal and have the wind for the first quarter.
It wasn’t much of a wind, but any advantage would help.
As the coaches gave the final instructions to the kicking teams, the roars from both sides nearly drowned them out. The excitement was in the air, a feeling hard to duplicate.
The two teams broke away from the coaches and took the field, lining up opposite each other. As Jeremy prepared for the kick, everybody in the stadium stood, hollering and clapping.
The referee blew his whistle and motioned for Jeremy to proceed. Petros’ kicker raised his arm, waited a couple of seconds while looking to both sides to make sure his teammates were ready, then dropped his arm while jogging toward the football, waiting for him on the tee.
His foot met the ball solid, sending it soaring down the field and the football season was finally here.
Chapter 14
There was no doubt all the preliminary stuff was over and it was time to get ready for the real deal.
The night before the first game, practically the whole town got together downtown for a pep rally. It had become a tradition over the years on the night prior to the first game.
The band played, the cheerleaders did their thing and the players stated how good their team would be this year. The fans cheered, clapped, hollered and make lots of noise.
This team was different. The coaches noticed it early and continued to see it every day. They were serious about changing what happened over the last two years. The coaches saw the determination and chemistry of the team. Cole’s best teams were that way. He knew this team had a chance to be good, mainly because of the defense, but there were a lot of questions that needed to be answered before this team was measured along with some of his better teams.
Cole had been through this many times but it still gave him goosebumps. There was such excitement among the crowd, he almost wished he could put on the pads again.
Petros’ band finished up the pep rally with the school song. The whole crowd clapped and sang along, the music echoing off the downtown buildings. Cole looked around at the crowd, amazed at what he saw. He always expected the band, cheerleaders, team and some students to show up. But it looked like the whole town was there, not just to be seen but to offer support.
When he got home, Cole read the Bible and tried to relax. He knew sleep would not come easy and it didn’t.
Down the hallway, his youngest son was fighting the same battle. It was like he drank too much caffeine and was paying the price, although water was the only thing Lucky drank. He was nervous and couldn’t stay still. Sleep refused to come so he thought about the game. Lucky couldn’t remember being this nervous. He always had trouble sleeping the night before games, even as a little boy. Now that Lucky was playing for the varsity, it made sleeping even harder.
Lucky had not missed a game in ten years, always dreaming about the day when he got to wear the uniform and play before the huge crowd. Now, that time had arrived. Lucky was finally a Petros Panther and it seemed unreal.
He knew it would be rough sitting on the bench since he wanted to contribute so bad, but also knew why his playing would be limited. He was only a sophomore and there were a lot of talented juniors and seniors available. Lucky knew Ichabod planned to use him some on defense and he hoped to contribute.
Sleep finally won the battle well after midnight, but it wasn’t a night of peaceful dreams. Not on this night, with football finally starting the following evening.
-----------------
When the alarm clock went off, Lucky thought there was no way it was already time to get up. That was followed by the realization it was game day. Despite the lack of sleep, this was not one of those mornings when it was hard to get out of bed and start the day. He hopped out of the bed and hurried to the shower, already excited about the game.
The day dragged on and seemed to take forever. He had a hard time paying attention in class, his thoughts on the game, not the fall of Rome or a subjective verb.
The final bell tolled, sending the students home for the weekend. Lucky and his father got together around five to eat at the Downtown Cafe. They each had a small steak, baked potato and salad. Cole hated eating before games, as did his son, but they forced it down, wanting to make sure they had enough energy.
Cole went back to the stadium, walking the field to make sure everything was ready. As he walked off the field, the first bus from Conser drove into the parking lot.
He stood for a minute, watching his opponents exit the bus. Cole always felt like he could learn a lot by watching how players on other teams acted at a time like this. When he saw most of the Conser players laughing and joking, it made Cole feel better. When a team acted like that, it usually meant the team either didn’t care, which Cole knew wasn’t the case, or felt overconfident.
The first group of Petros players started arriving a little before six. They walked to their lockers, finally getting to see their white helmets adorned with the black numbers on both sides. Inside the lockers were the uniforms with the black shirts with white numbers and solid black pants.
The black shoes were shined, as were the white helmets. Unlike other schools, the players did not wear their jerseys to school on game day. They wore them to the pep rally the previous night, then turned them in before going home. The players only wore their jerseys the day of a game during playoffs, a tradition that had been going on forever and made those games even more special.
The players looked out on the field, seeing Conser’s players already taking the field in their road uniforms with silver helmets and pants, white shirts with blue numbers and their last names on the back.
The Cowboys certainly looked impressive as they entered the field. Cole knew Conser was loaded with good athletes every year, but the Cowboys looked even more impressive this year.
Conser had almost seventy players dress out. The stands on both sides were filled nearly half an hour before kickoff. By gametime, there were almost as many fans standing along the chainlink fences and in the endzone as there were in the stands.
It was a hot, late-summer evening. The sun would not set until thirty minutes after the game started. Everybody knew it would be hot and came prepared, not that it really helped. The only people happy with this heat were the band parents in the concession stands, knowing they would have a good night selling soft drinks and bottled waters.
Cole was never big on pre-game talks when his players were ready to play and his team was good to go. He didn’t need to dwell on the nightmare from the previous year. All the players remembered and were determined not to let history repeat.
After Pastor Furman led the team in prayer, Cole walked to the front of the room and cleared his throat.
“This is it, boys,” he began. The players were seated in chairs in front of their lockers, getting last drinks before taking the field. “You guys have the chance to do something special tonight and this year.
“We have a long way to go and this is the first step. Don’t think about anything tonight other than winning this game.”
He stopped and got a drink, his mouth dry and voice scratchy.
“On offense, we need to control the ball,” he advised. “Keep cranking out those first downs. Conser can’t score if we have the ball and take care of it. On defense, don’t give up the big plays. Make them earn everything.
“Give everything you’ve got. This is our time. Play like you’re capable. You know and I know nobody outside this room believes we can win. I’d like to prove something tonight and get off to a good start. Play like a Petros Panther! Hit them like they’ve never hit been hit before. When they think they can’t take anymore, hit them even harder!”
When Cole finished, the players jumped up from their chairs, swarming to the door leading toward the field. The players shouted and pounded each other. They gathered together in the end zone close to the goalpost.
As the fans saw the players, a roar rose from the home side. The players waited until everybody was present and then took off down the long spirit line, two lines consisting of fans, the band and cheerleaders.
The band played the school song as the players ran through the narrow tunnel. Everybody on the home side stood, clapped along with the song and hollered encouragement.
Lucky had goosebumps while going through the spirit line, a moment he had dreamed of for many years. He tried to remember everything, from the sounds to the looks on the faces of the fans as they shouted encouragement. Lucky was near the back and saw the first wave of players bust through the banner urging the Panthers to cream the Cowboys.
The Panthers jogged down to the end zone then back to midfield. The captains from both sides were meeting in the center of the field, listening to the officials’ instructions. Petros won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. Conser choose to receive while the Panthers elected to defend the north goal and have the wind for the first quarter.
It wasn’t much of a wind, but any advantage would help.
As the coaches gave the final instructions to the kicking teams, the roars from both sides nearly drowned them out. The excitement was in the air, a feeling hard to duplicate.
The two teams broke away from the coaches and took the field, lining up opposite each other. As Jeremy prepared for the kick, everybody in the stadium stood, hollering and clapping.
The referee blew his whistle and motioned for Jeremy to proceed. Petros’ kicker raised his arm, waited a couple of seconds while looking to both sides to make sure his teammates were ready, then dropped his arm while jogging toward the football, waiting for him on the tee.
His foot met the ball solid, sending it soaring down the field and the football season was finally here.
posted by Craig Hall at 4:41 AM
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