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Do IT this week: Layering
By David Lee Morgan Jr.
Beacon Journal sports writer
POSTED: 11:58 a.m. EDT, Oct 29, 2009
It's Week 10 of high school football.
It's the final week of the regular season and many teams are gearing up for the start of the playoffs next weekend. But there are many teams that will be ending the season tonight.
This column is to those seniors who will be playing their final high school football game.
Take time to savor and enjoy every moment of the day. When you walk into the school wearing your jersey, be proud.
When you hear someone say ''good luck,'' smile and say ''thank you.''
Be grateful for the opportunity you were given because years from now, you'll remember every detail of this day, whether you played in the game or not.
When you meet today for your pregame meal, be grateful.
When you ride the bus to your game, be grateful.
When you're sitting in your home locker room putting on your shoulder pads and lacing up your cleats for the last time, be grateful.
If your experience of playing football meant anything to you, then you'll remember the smell of the musty locker room.
You'll remember the intense look on your teammates faces as they listen to your coach give that emotional and inspirational pregame speech that always made you think you could go out and win the Super Bowl.
You'll remember standing in the huddle and listening to the quarterback call your play.
You'll remember standing on the sideline jumping up and down as your buddy is streaking down the sideline for a touchdown.
When the game is over, win or lose, stay on that field as long as you can. Gaze up at the scoreboard lights and try to etch that image into your brain.
When you get back into the locker room, keep that jersey on as long as you can.
Tonight at InfoCision Stadium, Buchtel and Garfield, both 6-3 overall and 5-0 in the City Series, will be playing for the league championship.
Buchtel is still in the playoff race, although it's a long shot. In the computer rankings, the Griffins are ranked No. 10 in Division III Region 9. The top eight teams in each region qualify for the playoffs, so naturally this is a must win.
For some on the fields in the area tonight, they will continue their football careers in college, like Garfield senior running back Tyson Gulley, who has been recruited by most of the Mid-American Conference schools as well as Kansas, Syracuse and Marshall.
But this is still a special night.
''Unfortunately, we have no chance of playing next week, so this means everything to us,'' Garfield coach Bob Sax said. ''I told the seniors how special this is going to be for them.
''All week long, we've been doing things with our seniors and reminding them that this is their last shot. (Wednesday) was our last tough practice.''
Gulley said his uncle, Bill Campbell, always comes to watch him practice. The two were standing on the field after practice talking when Sax approached them.
''I can't believe how fast it went,'' Gulley said to his uncle and Sax. ''I remember like it was yesterday when we scrimmaged Youngstown Chaney my freshman year. Now, here it is my last practice on this field. I just can't believe how fast it went.''
That's the truth.
Ask any adult and they'll tell you how fast their high school years flew by. I graduated in 1984 from Warren G. Harding and every time I walk into a school, a football stadium, a gymnasium, every time I walk into a school lunch room and hear the chatter and smell the food, I get a flashback of when I was sitting in those seats as a student-athlete with a Jheri curl and a mouth full of braces.
Then poof, it was over.
So cherish today because win or lose, you have the opportunity to make it an experience that you will talk about forever.
David Lee Morgan Jr. can be reachedat dlmorgan@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Varsity Letters high school blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/varsity_letters/. Also on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ABJ_Preps.
It's Week 10 of high school football.
It's the final week of the regular season and many teams are gearing up for the start of the playoffs next weekend. But there are many teams that will be ending the season tonight.
This column is to those seniors who will be playing their final high school football game.
Take time to savor and enjoy every moment of the day. When you walk into the school wearing your jersey, be proud.
When you hear someone say ''good luck,'' smile and say ''thank you.''
Be grateful for the opportunity you were given because years from now, you'll remember every detail of this day, whether you played in the game or not.
When you meet today for your pregame meal, be grateful.
When you ride the bus to your game, be grateful.
When you're sitting in your home locker room putting on your shoulder pads and lacing up your cleats for the last time, be grateful.
If your experience of playing football meant anything to you, then you'll remember the smell of the musty locker room.
You'll remember the intense look on your teammates faces as they listen to your coach give that emotional and inspirational pregame speech that always made you think you could go out and win the Super Bowl.
You'll remember standing in the huddle and listening to the quarterback call your play.
You'll remember standing on the sideline jumping up and down as your buddy is streaking down the sideline for a touchdown.
When the game is over, win or lose, stay on that field as long as you can. Gaze up at the scoreboard lights and try to etch that image into your brain.
When you get back into the locker room, keep that jersey on as long as you can.
Tonight at InfoCision Stadium, Buchtel and Garfield, both 6-3 overall and 5-0 in the City Series, will be playing for the league championship.
Buchtel is still in the playoff race, although it's a long shot. In the computer rankings, the Griffins are ranked No. 10 in Division III Region 9. The top eight teams in each region qualify for the playoffs, so naturally this is a must win.
For some on the fields in the area tonight, they will continue their football careers in college, like Garfield senior running back Tyson Gulley, who has been recruited by most of the Mid-American Conference schools as well as Kansas, Syracuse and Marshall.
But this is still a special night.
''Unfortunately, we have no chance of playing next week, so this means everything to us,'' Garfield coach Bob Sax said. ''I told the seniors how special this is going to be for them.
''All week long, we've been doing things with our seniors and reminding them that this is their last shot. (Wednesday) was our last tough practice.''
Gulley said his uncle, Bill Campbell, always comes to watch him practice. The two were standing on the field after practice talking when Sax approached them.
''I can't believe how fast it went,'' Gulley said to his uncle and Sax. ''I remember like it was yesterday when we scrimmaged Youngstown Chaney my freshman year. Now, here it is my last practice on this field. I just can't believe how fast it went.''
That's the truth.
Ask any adult and they'll tell you how fast their high school years flew by. I graduated in 1984 from Warren G. Harding and every time I walk into a school, a football stadium, a gymnasium, every time I walk into a school lunch room and hear the chatter and smell the food, I get a flashback of when I was sitting in those seats as a student-athlete with a Jheri curl and a mouth full of braces.
Then poof, it was over.
So cherish today because win or lose, you have the opportunity to make it an experience that you will talk about forever.
David Lee Morgan Jr. can be reachedat dlmorgan@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Varsity Letters high school blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/varsity_letters/. Also on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ABJ_Preps.
Comments
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Cuyahoga Falls, Oh
Posted 04:22 PM, 10/30/2009
Great story David. I have one problem with the local radio stations. Unless I'm overlooking the game between Garfield and Buchtel is not listed on any radio station as far as I can see. This is the AKRON CITY SERIES title game for cryin out loud. I see Manchester vs CVCA on one station, and Stow vs Cuyahoga Falls on our own WAKR. Good luck to both teams. David, I hope I can read about it in tomorrows Beacon Journal.
