Benson 1
Anthony Benson
Ms. Price
College Writing 1
1 October 2018
The Game That Changed My Life
“Defense! Defense!” The stadium was filled with loud, rambunctious people waiting to see who was going to win the game. As the sweat dripped down the players’ exhausted faces, the ball was placed onto the cold, damp turf. The ball was snapped, pads were flying, fists were being swung from all directions. As the time was winding down on the clock from 3….2…1… the crowd was going wild. I look up and I see my teammate had made the final sack to win the game. I looked around seeing my community, teammates, and coaches smiles as wide as the Mississippi River. I see tears rolling down like a waterfall on all my teammates and coaches faces.
It was a brisk morning on a beautiful Thursday in November. I grew up in small town 20 minutes north of Madison called Lodi. It was just like any other average small-town school. Tractors holding up traffic for people going to work, fresh country air of cow poop, everyone knew everyone. It was a town where you could walk up to anyone at Kwik Trip and have a conversation with them for hours. I was ready to take on the day and seize it. I drove to school ready to see my other senior teammates and greet them. Before school began I discussed with a few of my teammates our thoughts on the game and how it was going to go. We told each other that we needed to go in confident and at the top of our game. One of my teammates, Dominic stated, “We could go down in history for this school. We need to make this community and school proud.” As we all left our separate ways for school, all I could think about is the game that night and my teammates.
All of us are like family. We push each other in school, sports, and outside of school. We were all very close. We all worked out together every morning, five days a week. We would always go to dinners every Thursdays before games on Friday. We all loved each other and would do anything for each other. I couldn’t focus in school because all I could think about was the game. I watched all the film on the opposing team in classes over a million times, or at least in seemed it like. I was sitting in my last class anxious and watching the clock tick slowly as the last few seconds went by. When school was done I knew it was not long before we could go out on that field and annihilate some kids.
Later that night the team all packed into a bus and we were off. We were all crammed onto the bus, quiet and determined about the game, we left to make history. When we arrived at the field we all got off and just stared in awe and couldn’t believe we were here. I had to pinch myself to make sure it wasn’t a dream. We all walked together to the locker room, got changed and waited. As we were all waiting patiently, the coaches walked in and they began to give us a pep talk. The main thing I remember from my coach’s pep talks is to do it not for us, but do it for the community. Do it for the people who love you and brought you here. I remember very proudly my head coach stating, “You guys aren’t here because of us (the coaches), you are here because of each other. You are here because of all the love from your family, friends, and community.” This quote by my coach hit me like a gunshot in my heart. As we walked out the tunnel onto the field I looked over to our fans. It made me think of what my coach said. We are here for each other and our community. We are all a family and look after each other.
Going into the game we were undefeated all season and we were supposed to win this game. I didn’t know how were going to do this because we were facing the defending state champs. As we were all warming up for the game, I had butterflies in my stomach for being so nervous. This was the biggest game of my life. I couldn’t let my teammates or community down. As the game was about the begin, everyone was nervous, but we were ready to go. The ball was kicked off and the game had begun. Both teams battled to the end. It came down to the last play of the game. As the final seconds were ticking down I realized we just won state for football. I run off the field and burst into tears with everyone. We hugged each other and were so proud of one another.
When the game was done, and everyone was done celebrating they had a ceremony for presentation of the trophy. When we were all called, we all held the gold ball up and we all knew we had just made history. After the game we went back to locker room and were ready to celebrate. As music was playing, naked men were dancing while balling their eyes out because they couldn’t take in that we just won. We left Madison and went back to Lodi to celebrate with the community. When we got to the high school and went into the gym to a sight of the community absolutely wild. We all knew we had made a difference in the community and in history.
I suppose most people might think it’s odd that we are such a close team and community. My teammates and I are like family and will always look after each other. We pushed each other and were able to accomplish our goal of winning state. We will all never forget this. I had never known the community had loved us and supported us this much. It all shows how a small community like Lodi can become a big family. I often ask myself what it would be like to be a bigger school or community. I believe my teammates all wouldn’t know each other loved one another and would push each other if were a bigger school. If we were to have a bigger community, we all wouldn’t know each other, and it wouldn’t feel like everyone supports one another. In the end, coming from Lodi makes me appreciate the small things of a small town, like being able to have a conversation with anyone or supporting each other when something goes bad. It makes you wonder how you got to grow up in such a wonderful town.
