We were ready, at least we thought so. It was Wayne Hills week, our first game, and we had walked onto our home field at 9:30 a.m. ready to pummel our rivals to start off our Ramapo football careers. The days previous to the game were of mixed emotions. You could even feel it in the locker room. Excitement, anxiety, anxiousness, and determination all overwhelmed us.

We knew coming in that Wayne Hills was a strong and athletic team, but we didn’t care. As we cockily walked down the pathway to the field we all had one vision in mind. Beat. Wayne. Hills. Eventually, after an ugly four quarters and an hour and a half later, we had found out our fate. Weeks of preparation and hard work instantly had vanished like a ghost into the morning’s daylight. The final score of that game was 42-12, with Wayne Hills easily coming out on top. After practicing all week thinking we were so unstoppable, it really just distracted us from beating Wayne Hills. We were shocked, and could not comprehend at the time what had just occurred.
“Good game Josh,” my mom declared with a forced smiled upon her face, “get ‘em next time.”

“Thanks” I sullenly replied during our car ride on the way home. While we were sitting in the car all I could think about was how horribly we played and how we could get better. It was going to be a long season if we didn’t pull it together, and this was when I had realized that we were going to have to mature as a team and as individuals if we wanted any form of success.

Throughout the next several weeks we were still just an average team at best, sitting at a disappointing record of 2-2. We were discouraged by our record, but that was not going to stop any of us, from having a successful season. Looking back on the Wayne Hills game that we had lost so terribly, it had motivated us to strive for better. It lit a fire deep within myself to lead my teammates, and my teammates had wanted that winning feeling just as dreadfully as I did. We were destined for success, as a result of that burning flame, that hunger to win.
Up until that 5th week we had played as individuals, not caring for anybody else but ourselves and how we personally played. All at once something within connected us, something clicked. We all realized through practice and through the few games that we had won, that there was more to this team than ourselves, and we had each other. We could not afford to ever play like we had against Hills again, especially against Pequannock in week 5, for we had surely officially learned our lesson. Our time to win was now.

“Alright boys,” Coach Graff yelled in the locker room before the game, fired up with excitement, “we have a great opportunity at home today against a good Pequannock team. You can either become 2-3 or 3-2, but it all comes down to who wants it more. Now let’s bring it down there onto the field and show them what we got.”

One thing was for certain, and that is after coach had spoken to us and we got out there onto the field, we knew we were prepared, mentally and physically, this time around. It was as if each of us had a spring coiled up inside of us, that we so desperately needed to be let loose. As soon as that first whistle to start the game was blown, we all let that spring go and played our hearts out. The final score of that game was 35-0, with Ramapo being victorious.

“Great game Josh!!” my parents had screamed as I started my way up to the locker room. This time, I knew they really meant it, and they were jovial as ever. I was proud to say that we now owned a winning record at 3-2, and there was no way we were going to let that up.

The next few weeks we tallied up three more impressive wins and sit at a record of 5-2. Ultimately, if it were not for that first game where we became motivated, determined, and eventually, cohesive, I do not think we would be as successful as we are right now. The bond formed by the players on this team, through the days of hardship and struggle, has become unbreakable, and has helped our team’s cohesiveness. Currently, we continue the season with three games left and we are as determined as ever to finish the season on a positive note. Then again, we still have to continue to work hard and play together as a team, but until that last game, the rest of our story is yet to be told.