The Passion of Football.

This season the Sophomore Football team’s record so far is 2-1. We lost a heartbreaking game week one. We were leading at the half by ten points, and then had the win taken from us on a final drive by Hopkins with just about a minute remaining in our home opener.  This was a wake up call to our team. All of us, including myself, were taking the game for granted and started slacking off in the fourth quarter just as our opponents were getting hungry and inching their way back into it. “We can’t let them win,” were the words stuck in my head with just a few seconds left. At the end of the game when the score read, Edina 30, Hopkins 33, the coaches had us go over to the end zone to have a team meeting. You could tell this was our first game because all the guys seemed to have that look on their face like, “wait, the game’s OVER?”  Throughout the game we didn’t play every down like it was our last. We didn’t leave everything we had out on the field. If we had, and STILL lost, then we would be able to hold our heads high. I KNOW my team wants to have that game back. I know this because looking at everyone’s face that night and seeing it the next week at practice was like night and day. The stares and tired looks quickly became excitement and eagerness. The fear became anger. We wanted this game back. And since we can’t play it over again, every game we have we know to go out there, every play, and put in our all. “If you get hit, stay on your feet and keep driving your legs.” I remember hearing this from my 9^th grade coach all season. Our second game was also at home but it was an out of conference game against Southwest. You knew it was game day when we took the field. All the players were encouraging each other and running from place to place on the field. Pregame practice felt like the real game. I needed to take a break for a few minutes just to save some energy for when it REALLY mattered! They kicked the ball off to us, and that was the last time they ever did. We scored on every possession and our defense stopped them on every down. They didn’t gain one first down that whole game. This is when I knew we had what it takes. The intensity, the  passion.  The heart.