Football

Game 6: to be edited

'First editing complete'

Duluth Central Trojans: Matched up with us nearly in size but for the rest, no way. Not in speed or strength. They made up for the lack of these by playing more concervative and nearly mistake free ball, where as we kind of hung it all out, taking risks and calculated risks. The snap crack hitting wasn't there but the execution was. I didn't keep the clippings from this game or I lost them, and what ever memory I have of this game is minimal.

I got in 6-8 tackles and I think this was the 2nd and final wuss game. In other words no contact hard enough for me to see sparks flying.

We scored one touchdown in each half but I am not so sure about that. I do remember coach being totally pissed in the locker room at half time. Not at the Defense. They had like 0 first downs against us, but at the offense for not kickin some butt on the field.

There was no play in that game that stands out in my mind at all. I wish there was but not all games are epic struggles. Maybe that is the real story here. In football you have to win the humdrum as well as the meaningful. If you don't you can't call yourselves champions.

Each and every week you have to prepare yourselves to play as hard as you can.

One of the things that kept me going after God was I didn't want to let my teammates down by doing something stupid that would cost us. So I studied and pressed myself in practice. Focusing on my own performance.
When it came time for drills I pushed myself with all my might trying to run harder get up faster and keep going no matter how bad I felt, and this game with Central was no different to me than playing against a Harding or Shanley or the upcoming game against Moorehead. To me there is no taking anything for granted. Not this week or next. Because of God I had gotten it and I intended to keep it. I wasn't going to let anyone down.
I tried to hit as hard and clean in practice evaluating and reevaluating my every move never being satisfied with the last play. Always trying to outdo my self next time. It was paying off. Come game time I wasn't thinking about what I was supposed to do.

The form had become apart of me.
I went where I was supposed to be,
Adapted to the flow of the game instinctively,
Checking off on key's and reacting naturally.
In position and stances to deliver hits automatically.

I was just doing.

Now that I think of it I do have an example of one play that nearly every team ran. Off tackle. Almost every team had some variation. Most of the time the tight end would block down on the D-Tackle and the running backs would try to take the D-End outside. It was my favorite play to defend against. I didn't have to do much except roll shoulders left then right with the effect of deflecting blockers charging at me and leaving me in a near perfect stance low and coming up hitting the runner in the midriff just above the belt lifting him up and driving him straight down into the ground.

I got about 3 of those type of tackles in this game. I think that coaches from other teams saw the data on my physical size and thought they were going to run over me. I know they were looking at our game films just like we were looking at their previous weeks game stuff. In those kinds of fur balls it was extremely difficult to see that I was shedding the blockers. I think they thought that the teams we were playing were pansies. I could hear opposing coaches screaming BLOCK!!! No matter how low a blocker got I went lower; dredging the grass with my face mask if I had to, enabling me to deflect the blockers effort. The minor deflection coupled with the blockers speed and mass turned what should have been a crushing hit into a vector change past me from which there was no recovery, leaving me free to engage the next obstacle or to prepare for the oncoming runner. All of these things happen so fast but the Angel of the Lord was with me and everything was in slow motion. I was extremely fit and very strong but there is no other explanation for a 163 pound defensive end scraping off blocks from kids who outweighed me or me taking down a 190# running back effortlessly and consistently through out the year. At least half of the tackles I had so far were of this particular type. CRACK,CRACK,POP!!! Straight on, heads up bashes with the running backs ending up flat on there backs stripped of their blockers with stunned astonishment dominating thir face, blockers getting up off of the ground in embarrassed defeat walking back to their huddle trying to regain their composure. The play over in 2 seconds flat.

I never gloated about this but my mind never failed to take a snapshot. I prayed consistently that I not get proud. The Holy Spirit reminded me constantly not to think or do proud. I just did. I returned to the huddle as if nothing happened already prepping myself mentally for some more smashing. Not nervous. Not frightened. Not evil. Just fury waiting to be unleashed at the next snap of the ball.

I am still fury waiting to be unleashed at the next snap of the ball.

They called me an enigma. I call me prepared.

We won this one 14-0. Our Defense totally stifled The Trojans. They accomplished 2 first downs the whole game. We were well on our way and setting new bars. Standards that if you achieved you could say you were good.

The Superior Evening Telegram sports headlines read; Seniors defense is so good that the offense can take a night off. We picked on the offense over that one.

One more down the road and I gave thanks to God.