I could not stop moving. I was anxious, excited, and nervous at the same time. I knew I had to show composure in these high pressure situations because my teammates looked up to me. I tried my best but it was my first championship game and my team and I were so far away from home. We were scheduled to play a team that was undefeated in Las Vegas. We were undefeated too so that didn’t impress us much. I played free safety and kick return at the time so I knew I would have ample opportunities to get the ball. I knew this game would be memorable for me for a long time.
I felt like a pro athlete for flying into a city with lots of screaming fans in my corner. We stayed at a hotel called Nevada Palace. I hardly got any sleep the night before before the game. I hung out in a teammates room and we talked about how we were going to shutdown the opposing teams offense. I knew I needed to get some sleep so I took a dose of Tylenol PM. It helped a little but not much. I was surrounded by friends and family who seemed so happy for us. I fell asleep around 10:30 Knowing tomorrow would be a highlight in my life. The next morning it was game time and I could tell my team was ready to play. We got to the locker room and strapped on our gear. As always before every game our coach said a few words to hype us up. All i could say was it worked.
Before we stepped on to the field to play we said a team prayer. After that the team got so energized our coaches had to rally the kick return team onto the field. Of course I was the first person lined up because the ball was coming to me. I caught the kick off and returned it 36 yards. It was a close game right until the very end. Both teams fought very hard but only one team can be the winner. We knew what was at stake coming into this game. It’s either win or go home and we all felt that we have worked too hard and came to far to go home empty handed.
The final seconds of the third quarter were winding down, and I could see my team getting tired. The score was all tied up at 26 to 26. I rallied my team and told them not to let up and keep playing with intensity. With my body covered in sweat and my arm in blood I felt my perfect season slipping away. We had to fight hard if we wanted to win. I dug deep down inside myself and got back into attack mode even though I felt like falling flat on my face. We had three minutes left in the game and things really started to get hard. Our defense was backed up into our own end zone with the enemy in scoring position.
It was third an goal so we anticipated that they were going to throw the ball. I had a hunch on who the quarterback was going to throw the ball to because he threw the ball to that receiver a lot that game. I cheated over to his side so slick the quarter must have not seen me because he tried to throw the ball to that receiver and I was right there to pick it off. As soon as I caught the interception I turned on the jets and headed toward the end zone. I was half way down the field when the player who was trying to chase me down dove at the back of my feet. I stumbled, but I did not fall down. I scored and man it felt so good.
We ended up winning by a touchdown thanks to our spectacular defense. The feeling was unexplainable to have my team hold me up after the game. I knew that a lot of why we won and why we even got to this game was teamwork and good coaching,but I felt like the star and no one was going to take that away from me. After the game I wanted to celebrate with just my teammates. I asked my grandmother if she could take me to the store and buy the team ten bottles of apple cider. She agreed when we got back I started to pop them like they were champagne. It was won of the greatest feeling I ever had. I was finally the best at something I love to do which is playing football.
I like foot ball.
ReplyDelete