Guts vs Glory (8 page)

What a difference a year made.  The
previous season, we were excited just to make it to the state finals.  We were
overwhelmed by the fact that we were playing where the Michigan Knights played
their games, and had access to a professional football locker room.  We were
overwhelmed by our opponent and how big they were.  One year later, we felt
like we were at home.  That year, we were there, not just to play in the game,
but to win the game.  We already knew who are opponent was, and watching them
run onto the field filled us with hatred rather than fear.  We knew we had
something that they didn’t have.  We knew that our secret weapon was the only
chance we had to win.

It was almost humorous watching them
on defense.  Their defensive line saw a much bigger running back than they
expected, but no doubt felt relief when they didn’t see one of the state’s best
running backs behind our offensive line.  As they were enjoying what appeared
to be an easy day at the line of scrimmage, the defender covering one of our
newest receivers started panicking.  He began waving his hands in the air and
asked for immediate help.  Due to his reaction, two other defenders came
rushing over and began preparing for a foot chase once they recognized who they
would be defending.  With 11 total players on defense, putting three of them on
one of our players obviously left one of our players open.  That one player ran
out about 40 yards and wasn’t noticed until after he caught the ball and ran it
in for an East Whitaker touchdown.

It was even more fun when
we
were on defense.  That’s because what we couldn’t hear from the sidelines, we
could hear on the line of scrimmage.  The center, as well as the two guards on
either side of him, swore.  They knew what we were capable of, and yet never
saw it coming.  Once the ball was snapped, the only thing they saw was the roof
of the stadium as they were all lying on their backs.  We didn’t get to the
quarterback in time, but we sure got to their coach.  There wasn’t anything he
could do other than instruct his quarterback to get rid of the ball quicker.

When we got the ball back a second
time, their defense was more prepared for our new receiver, Mike.  They knew he
had speed, and was a danger on the ground.  What they didn’t know was how good of
a catcher he was.  He ran out about 20 yards, then made a sudden cut across the
field.  The cut was so sharp that he lost his defender.  As he ran across the
field, the quarterback threw the ball in front of him.  Once he grabbed it, he
never let go and gave us our second score.

Their second offensive drive led to
a touchdown once they were able to regroup and create a drive full of fast
moving plays.  Even though they were able to score a couple more times, their
defense was unable to stop Mike, our new offensive weapon.  That took us into
the locker room with a small lead at halftime.  Once in the locker room, our
coach dropped yet another surprise on us.  He figured that at halftime, the
other team would use the 20 minute break to adapt to our changes.  That
would’ve been plenty of time for a defending champion to reconfigure their
team, which could’ve cost us the game.  For that reason, the coach wanted us to
go back to our original game plan that we had ran all season.

As expected, it worked.  When they
had the ball, they came up with the solution of putting their strongest guys in
the middle of the offensive line in preparation for us.  That put their weaker
guys on the outside of the offensive line.  That also gave us a cleaner path to
the quarterback.  Within seconds, the quarterback also got to see the roof of
the stadium. 

Our opponents were also more
prepared for us on defense.  They were ready for our powerful receiver, who was
a danger in the receiving game.  In fact, they were so ready that they forgot
about our running game and gave up an 80-yard touchdown run that Mike took
right up the middle of their defense.  By the time their coach figured out our
top runner was running again, his decision to go back to their initial game
plan was too late as our lead was too much.  We were state champions.

We’ve had cafeteria spaghetti and
garlic toast many times in our lives; but on that night, it was the best we had
ever tasted.  That’s because, after dinner, we were served a three layer cake
of awards, trophies, and records.  The coach presented the team with the state
championship trophy.  It was a beautiful piece of gold that would stay in our
school’s trophy case forever.  It was accompanied by the Becker County
Conference Trophy that we also earned that year.

After the trophy ceremony, the
coach moved into the records part of the team banquet.  Of course, there was no
surprise that Mike broke his own record of rushing yards and touchdowns in one
season.  We were surprised, however, that he broke the conference record in
both categories.  I was even more surprised to learn that there were more
records broken that season.  One of our players broke the school record of
tackles for loss in one season, and in one game.  I had no idea it was me
because, for most of the season, I didn’t have any tackles.  Thankfully, the
post-season stats counted as well.

The banquet wrapped up with team
awards.  These were always fun because it was obvious who some of the
recipients would be for some of them, but for others, it was a guessing game. 
There were five awards handed out that year.  The 1st award, the Most Valuable
Player of the Season, obviously went to Mike.  The offensive strategy was based
around him, and none of our opponents out-scored our offense, so it was well
deserved.  He also deserved the 2nd award, the Offensive Player of the Season,
for the same reasons.    I was honored, but I kind of predicted that I would
take home the 3rd award, the Defensive Player of the Season, after learning
that I broke two school records.  I also felt honored when the 4th award was
announced.

The 4th award was the Most Improved
Player Award.  That award was given to the player who improved the most in a
given season, while being a contributor to the team.  I guessed a few names for
that one, but didn’t get a single one right.  I knew it wasn’t either of us,
since we started the season already improved compared to the previous season. 
I never considered the winner because I always saw him as the best offensive
lineman.  However, I never took into consideration his improvement as a
defensive lineman.  Trevor went from our worst defensive lineman at the
beginning of the season, to a major weapon in our arsenal (and the reason for
my record-breaking 7 tackles for loss in one game).

The 5th, and final, award was even
more shocking.  It was the Shane Hagadorn Inspirational Award, named after an
inspirational player from the 1950s.  It was awarded to the player that was
able to inspire the team to play at a higher level.  The coach gave an
explanation for the award before handing it out to the recipient.  He said that
it was the most important award because, without a player to be a role model
for the team, we would have a big group of players only looking out for
themselves and wouldn’t be able to grasp the concept of team work.  Without an
inspiring player, an offensive player of the season and a defensive player of
the season wouldn’t be able to get us a state championship trophy on their own.

That year’s winner started off as a
criminal on the street with no athletic ability.  After two years, he turned
into a leader who was in the weight room every day and became stronger, both
physically and mentally.  The rest of the team saw how hard he was working, and
became inspired to work as hard as he did.  Once he became captain, there was
no breaking the bond that was created amongst his teammates.  That player’s
hard work and dedication, both on and off the field, was a big reason for
winning the trophies sitting in the room that night.

At the end of the night, we were
able to take pictures.  Many of the pictures included the team surrounding our
championship trophies, the two of us with our awards, and pictures of us with
our families.  On numerous occasions, I’ve looked at that picture of me holding
the Shane Hagadorn Inspirational Award, with my parents on either side, and
still can’t figure out whose eyes were watering more, my mom’s or mine.

That exciting time of the year
finally came.  The previous year, Mike went on recruiting trips and had coaches
trying to lure him in with luxury.  The following year, not only did I have a
good chance to live that life, but we would also be deciding on the team that
we wanted to play football with for the next four years.  We stayed true to our
goal of playing college football together.  We would only make a decision if it
involved both of us.  We had just finished an unbelievable record-breaking
season, and believed that we had a good chance of achieving that goal.  Mike
again got offers from the same schools that gave him offers the previous year. 
They were all anxious for him to play and were not only willing to let him
start as soon as possible, but most of them were willing to revolve the offense
around him.  Sadly, I also got the same offers that year that I had received
the previous year; none.

In a private meeting with my coach,
I tried to understand why I didn’t get recruited.  He summed it up that my
success was simply too late.  Most of the recruiters looked at players their
junior year.  Teams started building their rosters with those young athletes in
mind.  A senior had to really stand out all season long for them to be
considered due to the fact that there was limited room on college football
rosters.  Unfortunately, all of my big plays came during the playoffs.  Even
though I had an impressive run, I did not have an impressive overall season. 
Just like that, our dream was terminated. 

I released Mike from our pact.  He
was left to make a decision on his own.  He could sign with any team he wanted
without me, or he could join a junior college that would accept me.  That
decision was made easier when the University of Southern Michigan called him. 
As usual, he informed the recruiter that he wasn’t going to sign without me. 
That time, however, the recruiter asked to meet with both of us.  Suddenly, our
plan had a pulse again.

The recruiter agreed to meet with
us in our head coach’s office.  He agreed with our coach that I had a great
playoff run, but I would have to have two great years to be considered by a
major college football team.  Sadly, that would put Mike in a situation where
he would have to play at the junior college level if he wanted to continue
playing football with me.  If he did that, he would be wasting two years of his
football career, would be risking injury, and would jeopardize his chances at
playing for a major college, according to the recruiter.  Mike’s best option
was obviously to sign with a major college now, hot off an impressive season,
so people would remember his talent and what he did at the high school level. 
The recruiter made it clear that for the both of us to have a chance at playing
together professionally, we would have to play separately at the college
level.  After he let us digest the bad news, he had good news for us.

He was willing to make an offer
that would apply to both of our college careers, and would give us the best
opportunity to play together in the long run.  The recruiter would talk to a
friend of his on the Whitaker Junior College football team.  He had a good
feeling that they could use my talent.  I could then spend those two years,
since it was only a two-year program, preparing myself to play at the collegiate
level, and prove that my playoff run wasn’t just a fluke.  That would give me
the best shot at being noticed by the University of Southern Michigan.  He
couldn’t guarantee it, but he was willing to bet that I would be able to make
the team with two years of college experience behind me.  That would give us
the opportunity to practice together, live together, and be on national TV
together for the second half of our college career.

A few days later, the recruiter
took the two of us to meet with his friend at Whitaker Junior College.  The
friend turned out to be the team’s head football coach.  Surprisingly, he was
aware of my career, and was shocked that I hadn’t been noticed by any junior
colleges in the area.  Unfortunately, he never planned for me to visit his
school and didn’t have room for me on the defensive line.  The defensive line
slated to start the upcoming season was the same line that took them to the
playoffs the previous season, and he obviously wanted to keep them intact.  He
was able to counter with a better offer, though.  If I wanted to stay on
defense, I would have to remain a backup defensive lineman during the entire
season and wouldn’t be able to see much playing time.  If, however, I switched
to the offensive line, I would stand a better chance at fighting for a starting
spot that season because the starting offensive line had openings.

For me, it had been over a year
since playing on the offensive line, but I knew I would still be able to do
it.  The question was would I be willing to turn my back on the position that I
loved so much.  After meeting with the coaches, Mike and I went back to my
house and talked about our options.  Everybody had made good points that day
and we knew we would have to be realistic.  He didn’t want to lose an
opportunity with a major college, and I knew that I would have a better chance
of starting in the junior college level by being an offensive lineman.  Even
though I had more fun on defense, would I be willing to sit on the bench for a
year?  I knew I would have to become a starter as soon as possible to really
have any chance of making the University of Southern Michigan’s football team.

He reminded me of our promise to
make sacrifices in the short-term to achieve our long-term goal.  My sacrifice
would be walking away from the defensive line, while his sacrifice would be
playing without his best friend for two years.  Finally, we agreed that we
would be willing to play apart for the first two years, if it meant that we could
play together the last two.  The next day, he officially became a USM Dragon.