Two boys...two football teams....same school...FAR different results!

Anyone that checks in here regularly already knows that my two boys are football obsessed. (Mike coaches with the high school team, so that really adds another football-obsessed "boy" in our house.) Anyway, Dane and Grant will play on a total of 7 different sports teams during this school year, but football.....football is KING. This will be our last year of them playing on two different teams, as next year Grant will be a freshman and join the high school team. But for time being, Dane is a sophomore on our high school team, and Grant is an 8th grader on our Junior High team.

Our Junior High games start late in September, so Grant's first game was this week. Based on their athletic performance last year, we sort of knew that these boys were likely going to be tough this year. That is an understatement. They crushed neighboring Ocosta 38-0 and barely broke a sweat. The score could have been much higher, but our coach wisely gave some playing time to our young 7th graders, and experimented a bit with some plays that aren't yet polished. Our boys are big and strong and very, very fast. These are the same boys that dominated our league in basketball and track last year, and the same athletic skills are showing in football. It was fun to watch them win their first game, and I don't think it will be anywhere near their last.

Now.....our high school team.......is struggling. We are heavily weighted to sophomores and freshmen on the team. Dane is a sophomore, and rarely comes out of the game, as he's playing the line on offense and defense both. We started the season very short of players, which has somewhat resolved, but we've still got many kids that never get a break except between quarters. The physical differences between sophomore/freshman boys and junior/senior boys is surprisingly and consistently obvious in football.........The younger kids often have the same speed, but they lack the sheer size and brute strength. Our poor linemen are getting hammered at every game, and they just can't hold the bigger kids through four whole quarters. So.......Dane's team has been on the opposite end of what Grant's first game was. We're hoping that might change in the next few weeks, as we might be facing some weaker opponents than our early schedule held, but so far........the scoreboard has been ugly. With that said, they have improved MILES above where they were last year, and I'm ecstatic that they aren't giving up!! Give them a year or two to mature (and gain Grant's athletic class) and things are going to come together.

In the meantime, I think we're going to live the "thrill of victory" on Thursday nights, and the "agony of defeat" on Friday nights. UGH!