Junior High Football

We are now in the midst of our first tackle football season with our 7th grader, Owen. It's been a continual lesson in discipline, sacrifice, and teamwork. He gets up every morning, 5 days a week, at 5:20am to leave the house by 6am to be dressed out for practice on the field by 6:45am. (School doesn't start until 8:55am.) They take a short breakfast break around 8:30, and then 1st period is also football PE. We've been impressed with his hard work and the amount of time he has put into practice (even conditioning throughout the summer), which paid off when he was placed on the "A" team (as opposed to the B or C team). They play on Monday nights, and A team is last to play, usually taking the field at 7:30pm or later, staying at school until they catch a bus to (and from) the game, sometimes not making it home until 10pm. Talk about a long day!

It was so exciting to walk into the big stadium to watch their first game, after Labor Day, and finally see them suited up! A team was sitting in the shade watching the last half of B Team's game. We spotted Owen sitting by his good buddy, Jonathan.

So we called him over to get a good look at him in his uniform for the first time. #44. We like to say it in a Boston accent like the announcer we heard at a Boston College game one year ("num-buh fuh-ti-fuh"). He says his position is called the "adjuster", which we hadn't heard of before, but he's basically a fullback on offense.

We really weren't sure what to expect for their first outing, but they played reasonably well, even with a few low snaps and a somewhat porous offensive line. Owen ran for a first down (10 yards!) on one play, but didn't really touch the ball for the rest of the game for some reason. It was a little surreal to watch him play real football in a real football stadium. How did we get here already?

It has been a blessing that most of his neighborhood friends are on the football team too, so we're in a carpool (hallelujah!), and they all made A team, so there's no awkwardness about that. Toward the end of the game, I caught them all standing on the sideline together (44, 16, 86, and 84) as their team coasted to an easy victory, 22-0. Our secret weapon is Matthew (#84) who can kick extra points, which are worth 2 points at this age! And yes, running it in is only worth one.

What a relief to start the season off strong, with no injuries, and a wonderful spirit of camaraderie! I just missed the group pose here. Rats! But another nice perk is that the school has a site where they post the game videos, and players can select clips to highlight on their own page. We finally got it all figured out, so you can check on Owen's progress and highlights here. This is so much nicer than trying to video plays on our phones from up in the stands, not knowing whether it'll be a good play or not!

So far, the Bobcats A team is 2-1, with scores of 22-0, 8-12, 8-0. See what I mean about those kicking 2-point conversions? Interesting scores. In their last game, Owen had some great runs on offense (so close to a first down and then again almost the game winning touchdown) and several nice blocks, but he also played aggressively on defense as an edge rusher, including getting a tackle for loss on the quarterback. He played with a lot of energy, which was exciting to watch, and was in for nearly every play of the game. The following morning he was given a "Player of the Week" recognition on the morning announcements at school! We are so proud of him and are glad he has this awesome opportunity to represent his school and make some new friends. Plus, his grades are just as good as ever! It's going to be a fun season. (Owen is standing in the middle below with his helmet on, pre-game 3.) Go Bobcats!