Friday Night Frights

I made my daughter laugh last week.

Out loud.

No small feat.

Did I mention she's 14?

(If you have/had a 14-year-old, you can stop nodding now.)

It went a little something like this.

I was driving her carpool to high school.

She asked “are you excited about homecoming week?”

Before I heard the eek in week, I blurted out...

“OH YEAH. I LOVE HOMECOMING WEEK.”

Silence.

For two seconds.

That felt like two weeks.

I knew the question was directed at her friend in the back seat.

Not me.

But always the joker, I decided to bring a little extra comedy to the car at 7:04am.

Or at least try.

So I answered her question.

Loud and proud.

And this time it worked.

Fortunately.

She laughed.

Out loud.

Like twice.

Even her friend laughed.

Mission accomplished.

High school can be a very serious place.

Especially for a freshman.

But after a first day of jitters.

She's really enjoyed the ride.

Ok, it's only been a month.

But so far.

So good.

One of the first moves my daughter made was joining the freshman poms team.

You know.

The ones shaking the bouquets of plastic on the sideline at the football games.

Well some games.

At her school, the roles are clearly defined.

Varsity poms perform at varsity football games.

JV at JV.

And freshman at freshman.

With homecoming week now here, this is a big time for all three of the teams.

Yesterday my daughter's group got a chance to dance at the freshman football game.

My entire family went to watch her cheer.

And cheer her on.

Actually my son went to watch the game.

But we were all there to support.

And the team did great.

Well her team.

Big smiles.

Lots of cheering.

Lots of poms.

Lots of dancing.

Lots of acting.

Actually, LOTS of acting.

The freshman team lost 36-0.

But you never would've known it by watching the poms team.

Football is a great sport.

At any level.

I prefer the NFL.

College is a close second.

But you put two good high school teams on the same field.

And you've got yourself a Friday night.

My friend's son plays for one of those good high school teams.

A school that has won nine state championships.

And ten might not be that far away.

Through four games this year their record is 4-0.

They've outscored their opponents 135-40.

A great way to start his Senior season.

Probably the last year of his football career.

He was not blessed with GREAT size.

Or GREAT speed

Things they love at the next level.

But in high school you can get away without either.

And he's done plenty of getting away this year.

A 48-yard touchdown catch in game one.

A touchdown run in game two.

Four carries for 66 yards in game three.

Through four games, he has 231 yards on just 21 carries.

That's 11 yards per carry.

The NFL record is 6.4.

I know, I know.

High school vs NFL.

But still.

He had a great start to the game last Friday.

On his first rush, the 175-pounder raced 37 yards down the field.

The second longest run of his career.

He got seven yards on his next carry.

This was another blowout win for the good guys.

46-13.

His team was up big in the fourth quarter when they made a switch.

Switching my friend’s son from running back to fullback.

Instead of running the ball.

The teams leading rusher was now blocking for the guy running the ball.

A position he was not used to.

And a position he will never play again.

My friend’s son got caught up in a big time football collision trying to create a hole for his teammate.

So big that he didn’t get up.

Not right away.

He lost feeling in his arms and his legs for about five minutes.

Five lifetimes to his parents.

The boy was transported to a local hospital where he learned that he had fractured the T1 vertebrae in his neck.

That’s the good news.

If you call it good news.

Doctors say the break is expected to heal on its own.

He has to wear a neck brace for just two weeks and avoid contact for 2-3 months.

But at the end of that time, he should be fine.

Amazing considering what coulda been.

Unfortunately the boy’s football career is now over.

But thankfully he is far from done.

Lying in the hospital bed, he immediately set his sights on the spring.

When he plans on returning to the track team.

And that's something to cheer about.