September 2nd, 2020
By: Cadet Sam Roberto
It was the last drive of the game and we pushed our way to Springwood’s 40 yard line. It was the 3rd down with 7 seconds left on the clock of the 4th quarter. The score was 21 to 14 and we needed 1 more touchdown to catch up. We were all tired from that last drive, but my adrenaline was going. The play started and we all ran our routes to the end zone. The buzzer rang, and Wolfe was scrambling in the backfield trying to find someone open. Dowdell was waving his hands in the air and Wolfe threw it our way. The pass was a little short, so I had to run up for it.
When I jumped at the ball, everything slowed down a little bit, and the ball hit my hands, and as I landed on the ground, I turned my left shoulder towards the end zone about a yard and a half away, and then I got hit in the back. I rolled over thinking, “I made it!” until I saw the other team cheering. I looked over at the referee to see if it was a touchdown, but I had come up about a yard short.
I felt like I had let the team down and that all the weight was on my shoulders. I felt like crawling under a rock.
But then I thought, there’s next week and all that can happen then. I remember that last year we lost some, but we still won the National Championship. I realized once I settled that these moments on the field right now are preparing us for what’s ahead.
