This weekend marks the beginning of the South’s most sacred season. A time of trials and tribulations, joys and jubilations. Shouts and cheers, whistles and jeers.
I’m talking High School Football!
There’s nothing quite like a southern Friday night. Between the months of September and November (December, if you’re lucky), entire towns shut down. Sinners and cheaters gather with preachers and teachers, all with one common purpose; Cheer Them Boys Onto Victory! And “Them Boys” aren’t just any boys. They’re the boys that mowed your yard all summer. The boys that sacked your groceries. They’re the boys that date your daughters. They’re the boys you’ve known since they were “this big”.
But on Friday nights, with those brightest of lights shining down upon them, they are gladiators. They fight hard, and fight to win. No million dollar contracts - they all made minimum wage over the summer. No shoe deals - they’re wearing cleats at least three players before them have worn. No sports cars - they more than likely got to the stadium on a bus that spends its weekdays shuttling kindergartners.
But they fight hard, and fight to win. The fight for pride, and the name on the front of their jerseys. My town can whoop your town. Maybe if they’re good enough, they move on to the next level, and if they’re good enough there, the level after that. But for the majority of these Friday Night Titans, these four years will be all they have. And they will love it, and miss it when its gone.
So this season, in honor of this great southern tradition, I will be attending a different game each week. My partner in crime, and one of my best friends since childhood, will be this guy,
and we are going to have a blast. Between the bands, the fans, and the metal stands, nothing compares to an autumn Friday night in the South.
I’ll leave you with this; A 5 minute video recapping the 4th quarter of the greatest high school football game ever played. The John Tyler Lions had a huge lead, but those pesky bag boys and yard mowers from Plano East dug deep, and the rest is history.
PS. 9 year old me was at this game, and my team won!
