Senior Year

The First Game

The pain of seeing something you used to love to do being done without you is absolutely unbearable. That is what I felt on the night of our first game.

It was a normal night for our first game, hot and a little humid, and there honestly couldn't have been a better turn out. The only thing different this year was that I wasn't out on the field. That hurt more than I'd like to admit.

Three weeks had passed since I was told I couldn't play and the wound hadn't sealed at all. It felt like there was an empty hole in my life that was impossible to fill. After that day life just seemed to feel more cruel. The only thing holding me together was Kat. After that night I stayed at her house we'd begun to grow closer. No nothing serious happened that night we just opened up more to each other than we had before. But keep your head out of the gutter, there's a game going on and you're missing it.

Back to the game. The first game of the season was against our rivals, and of course I couldn't play, East Walker. Their team colors were silver on green. Ours were purple and gold on white. Surprisingly the white hadn't managed to turn green over time. Whatever detergent they use I definitely need to find. Sidetracked again. Sorry, those concussions have messed up my ability to stay focused very well.
As East Walker came out onto the field their side of the stands was uproarious with applause while our side remained respectfully quiet all but the few drunk "boo"s.

That's one memory I won't forget. My first game. Half the crowd was drunk and outrageous the entire time. Not just students either, parents were profoundly drunk. Every sack, every big play, every loss of yards, someone had something to say. I remember laughing while calling a play because Charles' dad had yelled at the top of his lungs, "Go Speedy Gonzalez!" In a thick country accent. His dad was the American one, and he enjoyed football more than his son did. This time things were different though because Charles' dad had died last year. This was the first first game he hadn't attended and it was weird, even to me, to see that.

Not even a minute after East has come out, West was running out of the tunnel greeted by the loudest cheers and music you could imagine, rivaled by the loudest boos. I had never seen the team from this angle and it was a little hard to swallow. They looked great but I was profoundly jealous I wasn't out there with them. They ran to the sideline and led the crowd in the regular chant. That was mine to lead but our second string, Nathan Beck, had led it instead. He wasn't a bad kid, but he wasn't built to play quarterback. I knew from the start they wouldn't let him pass much and I'd soon find out I was right.

The coin toss came and we deferred, deciding to get the ball at the start of the second half. Kickoff time. The whole crowd stomped their feet as a sort of drumroll and as the ball was kicked stomped with both feet and cheered loudly.

I had decided against sitting in the stands and was leaning against the fence in front of them, watching the game intently. My coach saw me as I had walked up and nodded solemnly, and I nodded back sadly. We both knew tonight wasn't going to go particularly well. The team needed a well rounded leader and Nathan highly lacked leadership. He was a quiet, but smart, kid. He learned well but couldn't quite get the hang of everything.

The kick returner caught the ball in the end zone and decided to run with it. He made it 15 yards out before getting tackled from two sides. Kickoff was doing their job, time for defense to show out.

East's offense lined up in shotgun with an empty backfield, trips to one side, double to the other, five linemen. It was gonna be a short pass. Ball was snapped and the quarterback dropped back as one receiver on the right got ready for the screen. Both defensive ends made it around the block and were rushing full force at the QB. They reached him just in time. Sack, loss of five. The crowd lost their minds. I smiled and thought to myself, Perfectly read guys. Good job.