This past weekend, I watched my high school football team play for, and win, the Division III Louisiana State Championship in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. I watched fans come together and make the three hour drive from my hometown. I watched everyone cheer, laugh and catch up while the game was being played. I watched one of my sisters cheer on the field. I watched cheerleaders, dancers, trainers, coaches and fans alike hold their breath until the very last second. I felt the electric energy in the air from the minute the boys ran through the sign until the clock wound down to 0:00 in the fourth quarter. In that moment, I finally realized what so many others before me and around me had come to know; this is so much more than “just a game.”
America has always been fascinated with high school football; it is just a fact of life. Another fact of life is that the fascination runs much deeper in the South. In the South, football is a religion. We will watch anything from pee-wee football to the pro’s to get our fix, but there is just something about those Friday night lights that people cannot seem to get enough of. That was true for me while I was in high school, but I never expected it to still be true once I graduated; yet there I was on Friday afternoon watching my high school team and experiencing a roller coaster of emotions as I watched the boys play the game. There is just something about high school football that always leaves you wanting to watch more.
I went to a Catholic high school in a very small town in South Louisiana. It is no secret that our school has a reputation of being good at football. However, contrary to popular belief, it is not because of the “recruiting” that takes place. The majority of the boys who play, go there and play because it is tradition -- their dads, uncles, brothers and cousins played on that very same field.
A big part of high school football is all of the heart that is behind it. Don’t believe me? Go watch a game on any given Friday night during football season. I can guarantee you that the majority of the town and almost all of the student body will be out there in that stadium. There is just something about the chills that you get while you watch the boy that you sit next to in math class score a touchdown, or seeing your best friend cheer or dance on the sidelines. There is something about knowing everyone on the team’s name and back story, and being able to cheer that much more loudly. The feeling of being hoarse on Saturday morning because of all of the screaming you did in the student section the night before compares to no other. Those are the things that make high school football more than “just a game.” Going back and seeing all of the people you graduated with cheering for the team, watching your younger siblings and friends win -- It is all of those things that make me proud to have gone to a high school where we always back our boys, win or lose. The heart of the school and the celebration of the team runs so much deeper than those 48 minutes on Friday nights; it gives everyone a reason to come together even if it is “just for a game.”
