Friday night is football night at high schools across the south. And my school is no exception. Last night was Homecoming - so the crowd was a little bit bigger, the cheers a little bit louder, the kids a little bit rowdier, and the parents a little bit prouder.
There is something incredibly pure about high school football. There is not the typical drunken debauchery of a college game (since anyone who wants to drink must do so just enough to still pass as sober). Of course our students are there, but also faculty, moms and dads (of both current students and alums), and about a million middle and lower school kids that run around in a nearby field, tossing footballs and playing tag. Everyone knows each other. Everyone is happy to be there. Win or lose.
And win we did. I left after half-time and the score was 49-0. When the final second of the fourth quarter ticked down, we had scored 3 more touchdowns for a final score of 70-0. Every player on the team got field time. (I think the ninth TD was scored by the waterboy.) Had I have stayed around for the second half, I'm guessing I could have petitioned to play myself.
I went to a huge football high school. But having gone to a college without a team, it was easy to forget the type of camaraderie that is forged through this Friday night ritual. They say football is a religion in the south - and no matter how old I am now, it's nice to be a member of the congregation once again.
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