The First Game

It was a few days before our first game against North Florida Christian (NFC). Our coaches were pretty determined to prepare our team well enough to at least compete with this team. We practiced extra hard and our conditioning, basically an extreme amount of running to get us more in shape, was extremely difficult; well at least I thought it was really hard because I never really actually practiced on a legitimate team. This team was for real and even though it was only in the first year of the Middle School Program, there were a lot of players and coaches that were extremely dedicated to our team.

A few good friends that I would soon make that would still be my friends today are Jared Armstrong, Apurv Suman, Patrick Pitts, Garret Koons, and James Zalman (there are probably still more; sorry if I forgot you). They are really good friends of mine to this day and they still play Football with me on the Varsity level. Another great friend that I would soon make is Robert Moss. Though he didn't play during the first year, he would be our quarterback the next year. Along with Robert, Dean Sharabi started playing football with us, as well. He was one of our leading receiver.

Anyways, to continue about our first game, we drove in our school bus to Tallahassee, which was about three or four hours long. On the way up to Tallahassee, half of the team apparently had very small bladders because there were warm, yellow Gatorade bottles rolling around the bus. It was pretty awkward... As we got to their school, we were driving around their field as the other team was warming up. There were at least 60 kids on their team which ranged in kids as tall as seven feet and three feet. We were nervous and excited at the same time.

The first kick-off started as the ball went down the field and I watched from the sideline as kids were running at full speed and knocking each other over. It was really cool, back when I was watching it. It was the first time I had ever been on the football field, before. It's a vague memory but I do remember us scoring the first touchdown with Jared throwing to an 8th grader, Chris Clark. Unfortunately that was our first and only touchdown and we lost the game, I think, 28-7; something like that.

Lastly, I remember us walking back to the locker room and watching the other team walk by us and saying good game. From then on, I always had the impression that every team would be good sports like this, but I would soon find out the hard way when I reached the Varsity level of Football that not every team is as nice as these guys were.

On the way back home, it was weird to watch everyone play around and be happy as food was eaten and drinks were drank. Everyone was as happy as could be, even after a loss. It confused me, but eventually I would just join in. I remember us joking around and saying how the other team was definitely a Varsity team. Some of us actually believed it, though...

In the end, I didn't exactly get to play much Football in my first game, but it was an amazing experience that helped me continue on to play more Football in the Varsity level. Football is and will always be my favorite sport.