MarkScott

2ndPeriodMr.Shelton
March25,2015

Game day

Finally, after the long school week, it is Saturday. My favorite day every week. Its second

grade and my very first football season. We are playing the Texans, which are our rivals. They
have all of the other athletes that go to our school that arent on my team, the Chiefs.
My alarm goes off, it is 7 A.M... My game starts in an hour and I am so mentally
prepared. My dad makes me my favorite breakfast that gives me all the energy I need to
perform at the highest level; eggs, bacon and chocolate milk. These mornings seem to me to be
longer than every other morning. The endless impatient anticipation that runs through me. The
visualizations of running up the sideline towards the end zone. Everything about this moment
excites me.
It is time to leave and go to the field and as I walk outside, I see my dads Harley
Davidson already roaring in the driveway. He then tells me that he will take me on it today to
the game. I put on my uniform and all my pads because I was nervous of falling off, so I wanted
to be as protected as possible. So there I was, a little kid in football pads, on the back of a

MarkScott
2ndPeriodMr.Shelton
March25,2015

motorcycle. I know that I probably looked ridiculous but I didnt care. The rush of wind that ran
through my facemask was unforgettable and I never imagined such a rush.
We make it to the field and I walk into the stadium to see my teammates already in the
stretch lines. I could already sense the competitiveness between us and the other team. The
clock counts itself down all the way to zero and the buzzer sounds as it is time for the coin toss.
My coach looked at me and thats when he said, Mark go be the captain and choose to receive
if we win the toss.
As I walked alone, representing the Chiefs, I became face to face with the other captain
at the Fifty yard line. The head referee asked me to call heads or tails while the coin was
flipping over itself in the air before it reached the turf.
Tails, I said.
The referee reached down where the coin was laying and picked it up.
Tails it is, would you like to kick or receive? The referee said to me.
I would like to receive the ball first, I said.
I shook the other captains hand and made my way back to my sideline. Coach told us to
return the ball to our sideline. I am the deep guy on kickoff and usually get to catch the ball off
the kickers foot. I set the tone of every ball game. I took my position, and stood there with
maybe a million butterflies fluttering around the lining of my stomach. I couldnt wait any
longer and that is when the kicker approached the ball and sent it flying towards me. I put

MarkScott
2ndPeriodMr.Shelton
March25,2015

myself under the ball and caught it. I began to run towards my sideline and saw the window of
space that I had to make in order to take it all the way. I made it past the thirty and approached
the window. Thats when I got leveled out of nowhere.
I got up and realized that both teams came ready to play and we hated each other
equally and wanted to win the game just as bad. I play running back and I take the field.
Keegan, our quarterback summoned up the huddle and told us the play. 44 trap. 44 trap is my
favorite play and I took my place behind Keegan. I took my stance and visualized if the play
happened perfectly and I looked at the other teams players that could be in my way.
READY GO! Keegan yelled.
He spun out and I took my jab to the left and made my way back right. I gave him a
pocket to put the ball in and he put it there. The hole was small but just enough for me to fit
through. I squeezed through, and off to the races. There were only two people in the way of me
and the end zone. I juked out the first person and started to run as fast as I could to the corner
of the end zone. The last person I had to beat had an angle on me. It was a weird feeling, I
wanted to accelerate and run faster but my legs couldnt do what my mind wanted. I cut back
and began to run to the opposite corner of the end zone. I reached the twenty, then the ten,
and it was too close for me to know if the last guy would get me or not. I reached the five and
dove and barely reached the goal line. I looked up to see the best two lines in football. The
referees arms straight up signaling a touchdown.
This was the start I was hoping for. I was exhausted and my teammates trotted off the
field with me. I made it to the sideline and my coach slapped the back off my helmet as I passed

MarkScott
2ndPeriodMr.Shelton
March25,2015

by him. In football, any type of contact from your coach without yelling is some sort of
appreciation and him saying good job without having to say it. I grabbed the bottle of water and
sat on the bench and waited for the next possession. I turned around and looked into the
stands to see my parents smiling. It was such a good feeling to know that you made your
parents proud.
I stood up, walked to the sideline and started to support my defense. The other team
was already driving down the field. They fought and clawed at each other. The running back for
the Texans was one of the so called, best athletes, in our grade. He ran all over our defense
and then they finally scored a touchdown after a five minute drive.
It was time for me to take the game into my own hands and put the team on my back. It
was seven to seven and we only had two minutes until halftime. I jogged back onto the field
and got back into position. The kicker approached the ball like he did before but this time he
barely kicked it. It was an onside kick and they recovered the football.
Now, they only had a short field to work with and two minutes to get points. I am not a
defensive player but coach told me to go in at safety.
Dont let them score, Mark. Coach grabbed me and told me.
I have never played defense before but I guess coach knew our defense was struggling
and they needed me to step up and out of my comfort zone and make plays for the team. I
barely even knew how and where to line up and it seemed so weird to me. They ran every play
at me it seemed to me. The time ran and the marched down the field. I made every tackle on

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2ndPeriodMr.Shelton
March25,2015

this drive but the kept making yards and progress and got closer and closer to scoring. They
made it to the ten yard line and they only had time to run one more play. Their coach called a
time out and both teams went to our sidelines to take orders.
This is the last play before half time and we need one more stop. Coach told our
defense.
Both teams retook the field and we dug our cleats into the turf and were ready to make
the play. The Texans offensive line got into stance and the quarterback got under center and it
was time.
READY GO! The quarterback yelled.
I began to approach the line of scrimmage and saw the running back running straight
towards me. He made it through the line and I was the only one standing in the way of him and
the end zone. We made a collision and we both drove our legs and it was a stalemate. Neither
of us was making any ground and we began to move sideways because of the great tension and
momentum that we created. We fell and looked down to see if he made it to the touchdown or
not. Just short. I stopped him and it was halftime and a tied game.
I have never been so exhausted. I felt like my legs were nubs and I couldnt move them
even if I wanted to. We went to the bench and got ready to return with the tenacity that we
started the game with. I looked up to the stands and found my older brother Stefan. Stefan was
the best athlete in our family and he had never seen me play before. I dont get to see him
much. My parents had sent him away because he was getting caught up with drugs and alcohol

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2ndPeriodMr.Shelton
March25,2015

and they thought that sending him away was the best thing to do for him regardless how much
they loved him. I made eye contact with him in the stands and that is when he nodded his head
up and down. It was the kind of nod that you give someone to tell them that you are proud of
them and to keep doing what you are doing.
I knew that now I had more to prove. The clock was reaching zero and halftime was
about to be over and I gave Stefan a salute.
We were kicking off to start the half. I was going to be going back out there on defense
because I had made such a big impact at the end of the first half. Our kicker kicked the ball
through the end zone and it was a touchback and both our defense and their offense took the
field.
It was a battle. We fought, they fought. Every play we hit each other harder and harder.
The Texans were a good team and no matter how hard we hit them and regardless how much
pain we out them through they kept fighting and coming back. They drove down the field and
took up the whole entire third quarter.
We went back to our side line and thats when coach gave us a speech:

Okay guys, this is where it matters most. All of the practice, the drills, and the fighting
and hard work were for a reason. We need to make a big play and get the ball back without
them scoring any points. What is the point of taking the beating and playing your hearts out, if

MarkScott
2ndPeriodMr.Shelton
March25,2015

you dont finish the job? Now go back out there, not for me, not for your parents, but for
yourselves. Take the fight to them and win this game.

I have never been so focused. I have never been so intense. I saw it in my teammates
too. There was a feeling that something great was about to happen.
We dug deep with our backs to the goal line and we began to play again. The Texans
were getting tired and I knew it was our time. They ran the ball and their running back had a
lane to the goal line but I wasnt about to let him score. I squared my body up to his and put my
helmet on the ball and tackled him.
Fumble!!! My teammates yelled over and over again.
We recovered the ball on the half yard line. I jumped up with remarkable illation and
excitement for I knew that the play I just made was going to be a difference maker in the game.
I stayed on the field and my offense ran out there to meet me.
Keegan called the play, 44 trap.
I knew where I was running and I knew that I could not lose any yards or it would be a
safety. The play began and I took the handoff and busted through the line of scrimmage and
thats when I knew that it was over. I ran to the sideline and started to sprint as fast as I could
and I knew no one would catch me. I made it to the end zone and turned around and looked at

MarkScott
2ndPeriodMr.Shelton
March25,2015

the stands to see Stefan up on his feet. He gave me the same salute I gave him. I shot him the
salute right back.
I walked back to the sideline and my coach said to me, Mark that was a play that you
will remember for the rest of your life. You just scored a ninety-nine yard touchdown and
people can only dream of doing what you just did. Go take a seat and let us finish the game,
you have done enough.

I knew I had just won the game and I sat on the bench and looked up at God and knew it
was all because of him. He had just worked in my life in a way I had not experienced before.