Hell’s Night isn’t anything to keep adults
awake at night here in our little home town, and that wasn’t a worry for us in
Pinehurst tonight either; but our final regular season football game of the
year was scary for us – in more ways than one.
First up for that, it started raining
before game time; the temperature dropped into the forties; and it’s been
raining all night since then. That made
for a very uncomfortable evening of football for everyone; though there was
still a good turnout for the game despite the lousy weather. The top scary for the night, though, was that
Pinehurst decisively won the game by seventeen points; and it was only that
close because they let up late in the fourth quarter when it didn’t matter
anymore.
The Hell Night Horrors started for our team
on our first offensive drive when Ray gave up an early pick-six interception
that fired up the Pinehurst players and fans.
While the Pinehurst offense scored six of their eight touchdowns and both
field goals; it was their defense that made that possible by earning eleven
turnovers. That was horror-worthy for
us, but could have been even worse if Michael and Tim hadn’t combined to defend
against what could easily have been another dozen interceptions. I wouldn’t dream of saying this to any of the
guys on the team other than Michael and Tim, but to be blunt; Ray and Jason do
not play well in the rain – or when things aren’t going their way.
I like Ray, and feel bad that he had such a
tough night, but I’m not so thrilled that he won’t stand up for the other guys
when Jason rips everyone else except his senior buddies. Ray was sacked eight times, threw three
interceptions, and had seven fumbles that Pinehurst recovered. That number would have been worse too if
Lucas and Garth hadn’t helped him out as much as they could too. Ray has a problem hanging onto the ball in
the rain that was way too obvious tonight.
He wasn’t the only one; though Captain JJ didn’t think he was a problem
either despite missing his only two field goal attempts and four of seven extra
point attempts. Yes, for those of you
doing the math on that now; our team did score seven touchdowns. Don’t make more of that than there is to the
story; because we also scored the last three touchdowns of the game while
Pinehurst saved as many of their best players as they could to help get ready
for the playoffs.
For the record, Michael, Tim, and Lucas had
two touchdowns each; and five of them were long-yard plays that were really
amazing to watch – even if we didn’t have much to cheer about tonight. Garth Green had the other touchdown; and he
also threw for one of Michael’s scores on one of the trick plays that he’s
being used for in all of our games now.
I’m sure that Coach Robinson is looking to him as our quarterback for
next year – even though there’s a good chance that he’ll still be on the small
side for the job for at least another year.
My final note for the game is that while we did have the final three
touchdowns, Pinehurst still earned two more turnovers – and opted to kick field
goals instead of running it up on us.
For the most part, good sportsmanship still means something to our small-town
schools; and it’s one of the reasons that we have friendly rivalries instead of
bitter enemies in our league.
Moving on to the cheerleading report, the
rain made our job fairly unpleasant. We
had as much fun as we could, and did our very best; but I was also very happy
to be able to hit the showers and get into dry clothes once we’d finished the
rain-shortened post-game festivities and packed up our gear for the trip
home. Our Halloween half-time show wasn’t
nearly as scary as it might have been in better weather, but we went ahead with
it anyway – a Monster High inspired skit that used a mash-up from the latest
Monster High movie – ‘Boo York, Boo York’.
The teens and tweens loved it; but some of the adults likely didn’t get
it if only because the rain made it hard to see the little details that would
have made the storyline of our skit make more sense to non-fans of the movie
series.
I’m going to cover the news from the rest
of the day, but before I do that; let’s wrap up things from Pinehurst first.
They were having a Halloween dance after
the game just as we did last week at our school; and Coach Robinson and the
other adults in our collective group agreed to let us go to the dance for a while
once we’d finished in the locker rooms and had the equipment bus and our
cheerleading squad vehicles loaded and ready to go. I’m sure that they were all happy to take a
break and warm up too; and they either came to the dance too or went out to one
of the restaurants to get hot drinks and snacks. Michael, Tim, Rowen, and I had fun at the
dance; but I will note that I’m very glad that Rowen and I were there with our
boyfriends. There were just a few too
many girls checking them out – and looking disappointed that they were with us
instead of being single for the night – as more than half of the guys on the
team were tonight. I will not add
anything more specific to that comment; but I will add that there were three
guys on our team that liked their single status for the night too much – and they
could be in trouble with their girlfriends if word gets back to those three
girls.
Assuming that Witch Falls is still a small
town by the time you’re reading this in the future; I’m sure you can guess the
odds of that not happening.
We stayed at the dance for a bit more than
an hour; and then it was time to head for home.
That meant that we didn’t get back to the school until it was
past-midnight; and it was nearly one o’clock by the time Michael and I shared
our goodnight hugs and kisses on my front porch before he dashed through the
rain to his house. Everyone in my house
was sleeping by then, so I stopped into Ethan’s and Ehlana’s rooms to kiss them
goodnight and tuck them in again; and then I came up to my room and got ready
for bed. Mandy was happy to cuddle with
me even though she’d have been happier if I wasn’t working on my computer too;
but then I’ve only done the basic computer and email checks tonight anyway
before starting on this update. That is
all I have for the end of my day; so let’s back up to this morning and cover
the school Halloween fun part of the report.
Tai Chi by the river was chilly; breakfast
in the sunroom was Halloween themed with pumpkin-colored pancakes and blood-red
colored syrup. Michael stayed for that
because the guys took the day off from weight training; and that added to the
fun for our early morning. I was good
with a handful of bonus hugs and kisses too; but then Michael and I shared
quite a few of those extra hugs and kisses when we could get away with them –
like while we helped with setting up the Haunted House in the gym this morning
instead of going to classes. I really
loved getting to do that work – and it was a lot of work even if it was a blast
to do with Rowen, Tim, and all of the other teen volunteers. We weren’t working the Haunted House this
year; but that’s mostly because we’ve all been too busy to add the prep work for
those jobs to our schedules.
One really awesome addition to the Haunted
House this year was the invitation to KidZone to join the Kindergarten class
for the mildest version of the Haunted House; and the kids and staff had been
thrilled with the idea. That’s also how
Ethan, Ehlana, and Aiden were able to join Naomi for the afternoon adventure –
and get to show off their costumes as a foursome. Ehlana and Naomi really do make adorable ‘Shimmer
and Shine’ genies; but I think that I enjoyed seeing their magic carpets, Ethan
and Aiden, even more. Mom and Hannah
tracked down a couple of appropriately-sized rugs with fringes that they made
into tassels; they cut out holes for their faces and arms; and the way the rugs
are attached to them allow the boys to make the carpets move around a bit –
even though they didn’t attempt to make them appear to be flying. I’m sure that you’re not wondering about
this, but for the record; Ethan is Naomi’s magic carpet; and Aiden has that job
for Ehlana.
While I spent the morning working on the
Haunted House; I really loved getting to enjoy the party all afternoon instead
of working. After doing that last year,
it was a bit strange to be a visitor to the Haunted House – and we didn’t even
get to that part of our day until later in the afternoon – the third-to-last
class to go through the maze in the gym – with the scare factor on high. Between our lunch break and then, though, we
had a party in our classroom that included a Halloween movie that we could
watch too – or just hang out and chat with the classmates that were there too –
and not helping out in the gym or elsewhere in the school. Our Scooby gang costumes didn’t win in the
costume contest, but I think that we pulled it off fairly well – and Tim was
hilarious as Shaggy – and as the voice for his stuffed Scooby-Doo. He even had a pocket full of ‘Scooby snacks’
that he’d eat or offer as treats to other kids, teens, and teachers. The trick with them was that they looked like
dog biscuits, but were actually sugar cookies that his mother baked for him to
use in the ‘act’.
Thanks to having one of our shorter road
trips for the game, Michael and I had time to go home after school so that we could
check in with his parents at the Inn; have a visit with Mom, Ethan, Ehlana,
Naomi, and Aiden; and have an early dinner before heading back to the school to
load up and head for Pinehurst. All of
that was fun too, if too short, and considering how the game went; it might
have been nice to stay at home tonight and be there for the dinner and
Halloween movie night that Mom and Dad hosted this week.
That’s really the only family news I have
for those hours I was away from town; and Mom and Dad had the full aunts,
uncles, and cousins turnout for their dinner – along with Aiden and three out
of four Seagers while Liz was busy at the salon. I’m glad that they had fun tonight; wish I
could have done both; and can at least look forward to being able to do more
with them whenever our football season ends during our playoff run.
I’m not going to be pessimistic about our
chances this year, but I do agree with Michael and Tim that we’re going to have
a tough post-season. Our seven-and-three
record looks better than it is because those three losses were to the only
really good teams that we faced so far this year. It’s going to be the best teams from here; so
going anywhere in the playoffs is going to mean turning that record around –
starting next Friday. We’ll know by
sometime tomorrow which team we’ll face – and whether we’ll be at home or away;
so I’ll add that news to my Halloween report.
We’re going to have a long, busy Halloween
that’s going to include a yard work morning; Halloween fun for the rest of the
day; and a babysitting and sleepover night after the trick-or-treating in the
evening while Mom and Dad go to the Halloween party at Sheldon’s with their
friends. Michael has to work at the Inn,
since it’ll be packed for dinner with farm-kid parents enjoying a meal out
while their kids are out trick-or-treating; but he’ll be joining us once he’s
set free from the Inn for the rest of the night – and I’m planning on scaring
the parents by having a Halloween sofa sleepover with him.
Sorry, Rowen and Tim; but it’s our turn
this weekend! ;^)
I wouldn’t want to fall asleep doing that
too early, though, and I don’t have anything else to add to this update; so,
until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
