First Play from Scrimmage, Transforming Courage and Desire into Victory

It was my junior year in High school 1988, my school Hyde Park H.S. was in the playoffs playing against Linblom H.S. This game for our coach Andre Thomas (rest in peace) was a big one, not only for the fact that we would be advancing further than the school has been in a long time, but his son was playing on the opposing team. The weather was amazing, the crowd was great, and the competition was tough.

The opening play is what games are made on, and I look back today and see that's who I was a tough fire cracker that was barely tall enough to be on the field, but was tough enough to overcome my physical build. The ball snapped, and running through my mind was that on the first play you bring it, either he or I was going to win the battle up front. I loaded both barrels and fired them the first play, boom stale mate, my ear piece came out and snot ran down my nose. He had hit me just as hard as I had hit him, the battle was on. Well that continued all the way until the second half, we clashed like rams, neither giving way. But as we all know someone had to give, and in the second half they took him off of me and put someone else there. I had thought the first linebacker did a great job, but his coach thought otherwise.

The game went into double overtime, with both teams scoring and bringing the game to a halt. Our defenses played like gods that game, and were giving the other team nowhere to go. I look back on this game and say that we only had two coaches for the whole team that consisted of about 35 players. The two coaches were Andre Thomas, and Letroy Alderage, who was the best defensive coordinator I have ever played and studied up under. To get us prepared for the game we sat in a room, some laid on mats and listened to coach Thomas's voice on a recorder telling us formations and tendacys of the other team. To this day I visualize games in this way.

The defense stopped the other team giving us a shot at winning the game. We had four plays and were stopped on the first three, which put us one foot from the goal line. The head coach called a time out and pulled us to the side and he told me and my best friend to this day, that the game was on our shoulders, he was running a quarter back keep behind the right guard and tackle, and we needed to score.

The fire was lit to inferno and we both looked at each other and smirked, we know what time it was, and headed to work. The ball was spotted on the right hash, the snap count was on one, and we were gearing up to clash one last time. The quarter back Shawn Spencer was counting on us to lead him through to victory this day and we were not about to let him, the coach, the team, and hundreds of Hyde Park students and fans that came to see us play down that day. The QB snapped the ball the sound of young men transforming before the crowds were taking place, no one know where their destiny was take them after this game, but it was in the making and being there gives me a great feeling to this day. All I remember after the ball was snapped is the crowd cheering loud, the players on the side line jumping for joy, and the buzzer sounding. I tell the players I coach today, on the first play from scrimmage knock the snot out of them.