Gameday. The day you look forward to all week, but get nervous about when it arrives. This is the day you have prepared for all week. You think to yourself, it may only be a freshman game, but this is where it all starts. Everyone started at the bottom. This is the start of a great 4 years. 

That day we were playing Stoneham at the town hall. It had rained the day before, so it was muddy. It was gonna be even more fun. I was playing on the defensive line, right across from the center. Every time the ball was snapped, I launched forward, and BOOM, slam right into him. I caused multiple fumbles, one of which was picked up by the linebacker and we scored. Every play I was smashing into their offensive line, creating pile-ups, this enabled the linebackers to come in and make tackles. I was muddy, and happy, by the end of the game. We lost that game, but it was close. Especially since Stoneham is a very good team at all levels of football. 

After one game, comes another. A couple of weeks later, we played Burlington. This game was a JV game. These games were played on Saturday morning. You wake up early, eat something small for breakfast, then get down to the locker room in time. There is a silence that happens, everyone knows to be quiet to prepare for the game. We pull on our uniforms, making sure everything is right. We get on the bus, we are still silent. We get to Burlington, now the energy starts to pick up. We snap on our helmets, the buckles making the all too familiar pop. We start to warm-up and get physically ready for the game. The game starts. I am the second-string center, so I go in every couple of plays. Then, in the last quarter, they put in the second string and took out the first string. When we go out, we have the ball. Unfortunately, the ball was on the 1-yard line. We line up, face to face to the defensive line. The QB starts to call out the cadence, then one of our offensive linemen jumped offsides. Now we are on the half-yard line. We go back up to the line, getting set, the QB calls the cadence, I snap the ball, I push the linebacker out of the way, the QB runs right up my right side, goes right through, and runs down the field and scores! That was the best touchdown I have been apart of. We won that game. It was a good day.

The thrill of those games is still fresh in my memory. Working hard and having fun like that is the best. Even though we lost, I still count it as a win, we fought hard and played well. We continued to play many good games. We ended the season 4-7. Yes, it was a losing season, but the fun we had, the things we learned, and the way we played is nothing to frown upon.