Today is Veteran’s Day, and while it isn’t
a holiday for us, we did have an assembly at school this morning; and had a
small ceremony at half-time during the game tonight where all vets were invited
to come out onto the field and be recognized – including the few vets that were
at the game to cheer for Mount Pleasant tonight.
I started with that news because that
should be the top story today – even if it’s our football victory that now has
top billing; and will be for the next week as our team gets ready for the third
round. We’re now just one win away from
a return to the championship game, but it wasn’t easy getting there tonight, so
while everyone is excited about our chances this year; the guys are not getting
over-confident. Since we are there
already, though; let’s get the football recap done right now!
The weather today has been normal for the
time of year, which means that the game time temperature was only in the
mid-forties. We didn’t have much more
than a nice breeze to deal with, though, and the sky was clear and star-filled –
not that we could see much of that above the lights around the field during the
game. We did have more than enough to
watch on the field, though; and Mount Pleasant gave us everything we could
handle as our teams battled it out to advance to the third round. Mount Pleasant got the ball first as we won
the toss and deferred; and then they went on to score a field goal on their
first drive. That’s a very important
detail because it proved to be very important for the rest of the game. Tim scored our first touchdown on our first
drive; and then Lucas scored the second touchdown thanks to a turnover that Tim
earned against Mount Pleasant on their second drive.
Tim’s early play was a big deal too because
Mount Pleasant adjusted their game plan to defend better against him; and that
opened the door for Michael and Lucas to really shine from that point in the
game through to the end. After we had
that fourteen-to-three lead; our teams exchanged touchdowns through until late
in the game – with Michael earning three touchdowns. Lucas earned two on the ground, and Tim had
one more; so we had a forty-nine to forty-five lead as time was running out
fast on the season for Mount Pleasant in the last minutes of the fourth
quarter.
They didn’t give up; won an on-side kick
attempt after cutting our lead back down to that four points again; and then
Michael beat them defensively with an interception and long run that set us up
for a field goal that gave us a seven-point lead. Let’s give Mount Pleasant a lot of credit for
holding us to that field goal, but they were really running out of time when
they got the ball back again. Their
hopes ended on their first Hail Mary throw that Michael again intercepted, and while
he could have run it back; he slowed up and let the nearest Mount Pleasant
defender push him out of bounds near the twenty yard line on their side of the
field. We’d have been happy to run out
the clock at that point, but Mount Pleasant used up their time outs and forced
us to kick a field goal after Lucas still managed to move us down to the thirteen
yard line despite having the defense stacked against the run. That gave us a ten-point lead with seconds
left to go; which is why Michael and Tim took turns knocking down the last two
pass attempts that Mount Pleasant made before time ran out and it was time to
celebrate for a while.
We did have a small party after the game,
but that wasn’t until after the post-game fun on the field with our families
and friends – and then we needed to get packed up and hit the showers before we
could move on to Tim’s house for that little team party. That was a fairly rowdy bit of fun by our
normal standards around here, but Michael and I only stayed until twelve-thirty
because we’re both working the breakfast shift.
He was also in need of some healing, since it was a tough game, and he
got hit a lot even while playing so well tonight. I was happy to help him with that – and have
a minor make-out session in the living room at my house too, but he headed home
at one o’clock; and I came up to bed after seeing him out – and watching him
walk over to his house.
Mom, Dad, and the twins were all sleeping
by then after a long, busy day, but I had a few things to do on my computer
after getting ready for bed and snuggled with Mandy. That was mostly work on the family business
for things that were sent to me by email and needed my attention sooner instead
of later, but I used a time phase for that; since I really do need to have a
nap before getting up again and over to the Inn in time for the breakfast prep
work.
I haven’t covered any other news from
today, but other than having a chilly start to the day with a frosty Tai Chi
workout by the river that we needed to bundle up for; the rest of my day was
fairly normal for a football Friday.
This is going to be a work weekend, so there isn’t likely going to be a
lot of fun involved, but we’re just weeks away from Thanksgiving and the
Christmas holiday season; so I’m happy to put in the time when I can –
especially when I’m not really pulling my weight around home most other days of
the week right now while I’m so busy with everything else.
Yes, Mom and Dad are happy to help me out
with that, but they’re just as busy as I am; and still manage to keep up with
all of the work around the house too.
I am doing the best I can with everything,
though, and there’s no point in going on about that when I should be sleeping
right now anyway; so, until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
