We are heading back to the State
championship game for our small school division next Friday!
That is the big news of the day; so let’s
get right to that part of my report for today.
First up, let’s talk weather; since that definitely had a big impact on
the game tonight. It was barely forty at
kick-off, but the wind chill was freezing; and it was fairly-windy too. We were ready for that and played
accordingly, but to be blunt; Hillcrest didn’t and that showed right from the
start.
Before I write about the actual game, one bit
of personal news should be added here; since it was very important to me – Mom,
Dad, Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden all came to the game! Dad had to drive to Hillcrest from Crystal
Springs, and didn’t get there for the start of the game; but Mom made it there
early and was able to surprise me before going to sit in the bleachers with the
four kids. They were there to support
Michael, and I’d say it helped; because he had a really awesome game again
tonight.
How great did he play? He had three touchdowns including a defensive
pick-six; two other interceptions on defense; and a lot of offensive yards
after the catch because our game plan was for a short passing game to counter
the wind gusts that made the long game unpredictable. The football fanatics reading this in the
future might ask how that worked out when Hillcrest should have been able to
defend more easily without the long game threat, but the simple answer is that
Michael and Tim were too fast for their defense and Lucas pounded them with a
ground game they couldn’t stop very well either. Tim had four touchdowns including one on
defense too; Lucas had two touchdowns; and we only scored one short field goal
on the way to a sixty-six to twenty-nine victory that left Hillcrest players and
fans a bit stunned after what had been a great season until tonight. We only tried for the one field goal because
of the wind, but while that might not seem fair when Hillcrest scored five
field goals, Coach Robinson knows his team; and our field goal kicker isn’t as
good as the guy with that job on the Hillcrest squad. The score was a bit lop-sided because of
that, but keep in mind that Hillcrest did score seven times; so things could
have been much different if we punted instead of pushing on when we faced
fourth down conversion situations.
I haven’t written much about the other guys
on the team in my journal, but I should note every week that our team isn’t succeeding
just because of Michael, Tim, and Lucas.
All of the guys are playing great and fight hard on every play. Reid doesn’t get much attention either
despite having great numbers that any quarterback would love, but then he’d be
the first to admit that’s thanks to Michael and Tim; and he’s as humble as
Michael; so he’s modest too. I wouldn’t
dream of including Tim in that little group, since he is happy to accept all
accolades, but he also doesn’t go around bragging about how good his is; so
that never goes beyond the line from confidence to obnoxious. Lucas is somewhere in between Michael and
Tim, and while he’s generally a quiet guy; he’s not as modest about his
achievements as Michael tries to be all of the time.
Regardless of their personal style for
that, though, they are now just one win away from a second championship in
three seasons; and that would be something to be very proud of for everyone in
our little town.
Getting to that game is a big deal for our
band too because we’re going to get some exposure on a big stage next
Friday. We’re already looking into
whether we can do some fundraising at that game, but don’t yet know if that’s
possible. We should at least be able to
do some advertising, though; so that might help with the fundraising – even if
we have to try and do that through the school website. I’ll keep you posted on that when I know
more.
For this game, our cheerleading was fun but
too cold; and this was the first game where we needed to use our winter gear
for the band. I guess that was good
practice for the Christmas parades, but I’m sure hoping that it will be a lot
warmer in Florida for the week we’ll be spending there in February! The half-time band and cheerleading show was
really great, but we didn’t exactly earn major cheers because our team had
taken a big lead into the break; and it was cold-enough that the hometown fans
didn’t feel much like getting up and cheering for the ‘enemy’ students. I liked getting to use one of our
winter-themed cheerleading routines, though; and it was especially great to do
that at an away game that Mom and Dad were at – and Dad was there by the start
of the second quarter.
The cold helped with keeping the post-game
festivities short, but it was still a very long day by the time we finished up
in Hillcrest; drove home on the buses; and unpacked at our school. It is an hour and a half between our towns;
so it was past-one by the time Michael walked me home and came inside for a bit
of Magi healing and cuddle time before going on to his house to get a few hours
of sleep ahead of the breakfast shift at the Inn. That’s also why it was past-two by the time I
climbed into bed with Mandy, and after seeing Michael out; I only stopped in
for goodnight kisses with Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden on my way up to
bed. They didn’t wake up, so that didn’t
take long; but I did end up with a bit of work to do after checking my email
that has taken a bit of time to get done before starting in on this update.
I don’t have anything newsworthy to report
from that, but will back up and do a quick review of the rest of the news for
the day. Tai Chi by the river was cooler
today, but the temperature actually went down as the day went along; so I won’t
complain about temperatures in the mid-forties first thing in the morning. We had an easy-breakfast that Michael stayed
for; Ehlana and I had a bit of play time while getting ready for school; and
then it was a busy day at school between classes and getting ready for the game
in Hillcrest. There was a lot to do for
that, which is why I spent most of my lunch break helping out with getting the
fundraising supplies ready to go – including getting a hundred fruit and
vegetable boxes ready to go that were taken to be sold at the game – even though
the monthly delivery won’t be here until next Tuesday. I’ll have more on that next week, but we’re
doing it on Tuesday so that all orders can be picked up at the practice on
Tuesday. We would have filled some
orders early if we hadn’t sold out tonight, but we apparently did – and could
have gotten more orders if we’d wanted to take another load out to Hillcrest
next week. We didn’t do that, but the
rest of our fundraising tonight did go very well from what I’ve heard so far
tonight.
Most of us didn’t have time to go home
after school since we pretty much needed to pack up the buses and hit the road
for Hillcrest; so I had a second bag lunch to have during the long drive; and
Rowen and I did most of our homework then too so we could get it out of the way
instead of leaving it for Sunday afternoon as usual. We had fun with our friends too, and it was
an upbeat mood on the bus all the way to Hillcrest. The work at the other end kept us busy
through until game time; though it was a bit cold too and we regularly had AWOL
teens as they found warm places to be while waiting for the game to start. I’ve covered the game, and while I’m not
going to write much about the cheerleading, we had fun with that too; and had a
lot to cheer about. They guys don’t find
our efforts as entertaining when we’re in our cold-weather uniforms, but that
is more good than bad for us – even if half of our squad enjoys that kind of attention
a lot.
That’s pretty much it for now, and I’ll be
working that breakfast shift at the Inn too; so it’s time to wrap this up and
get started on my nap.
Before I do that, the last thing I’ll
mention is that I’m very proud of Michael.
We’re both modest about everything we do in public, but once in a while,
at least here in my journal; I should be allowed to admit that he’s truly
gifted and amazing. I’m not going to do
anything silly like guarantee a win next week or anything either, but I do like
our chances – and know that Michael wants to win that championship nearly as
much as Tim wants the second title to earn something that not even his uncle
and cousin managed during their stellar high school football careers.
Let’s not get ahead of things with that,
and I can write more on football next week while I should be sleeping right now
instead of doing this; so, until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
