Author: Brett Henderson
So homecoming week, as always, was sweet. It’s the only home game that the football team plays during the day, so we had to get up early for an 8:30 a.m. walkthrough. Basically we just go over all of the plays one last time, so I guess it’s kind of like a dress-rehearsal.
After that we went to the dance studio for one of our game day traditions. The coaches pick out what they think were our best plays on offense, defense, and special teams, and we watch them on a projector. They aren’t necessarily the plays that gained the most yards; many of them are the kind of plays that get forgotten in a game, such as a run for no gain where every player on the defense fulfilled their assignment, or a kickoff where one of our guys kept the returner from getting the ball to the outside, etc. Watching plays where you and your teammates gave their best effort certainly puts one in the right mindset before a game.
After that it’s breakfast (lots of carbs) and maybe a short trip home, then off to the locker room. The cheerleaders decorated the entire place with signs, streamers, and balloons. They also got all the seniors framed pictures, which my mom is going to love.
As for the game itself, it pretty much went off without a hitch. Before the game, all of the seniors got introduced. Right before it was my turn, one of my coaches turned to me and said, “Look around and take a picture of this in your mind, so that you have a postcard of it for the rest of your life.” That really made me appreciate the moment even more. Playing on a beautiful day in front of a couple of thousand people is a blast, and I hope I don’t forget it anytime soon.
Anyways, once the game started, it was pretty obvious that the shoes were going to be back on our sidelines soon. You could tell that losing eight games in a row had really deflated Whittier, because it seemed like as soon as we scored the first couple of touchdowns, they were done mentally.
One thing that sucked about the game was that I hurt my ankle. As I was blocking one of the defensive tackles, our running back Brian Fiorito got tackled right onto the leg I was planted on. There wasn’t really much I could do except lay there and wait for the trainer. All I could think was that my mom was in the stands, and that if I didn’t show some signs of life she would think I was knocked out or something. So I tried to sit up so that she wouldn’t freak out. When you get hurt like that, you really have no idea how severe it is in the first couple of moments because of the huge adrenaline shot you get. I just thought to myself, “Shit, I hope that when I look down my bone isn’t sticking out of my leg!” But of course it wasn’t.
The game was in hand anyways and I have a good backup, so I wasn’t too worried. I had to have some help from the other seniors walking out to accept the shoes, but it felt good anyways. So now it’s on to rehab for the next week so I can try to get healthy enough to get on the plane to Willamette.
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