Friday Night Lights' Perfect
The following was written on Sunday March 12th, immediately following The Game:
Tonight the DigiPen Regulators played a game for the ages. But before I go into that, I feel I should give some background.
DigiPen is a school for computer game development. In other words, everyone at the school is a nerd in some form or another. Two years ago, some of the “nerds” decided to form a flag football team. They bought DigiPen jerseys, signed up at a local league, and played for fun and competition. Not being particularly large or athletic, they made up for it with quickness and determination and managed to do pretty well for themselves.
I joined the team in Fall 2005 for the beginning of the third season. The second season had been a letdown in the playoffs after a promising 6-1 regular season, and the team was looking to take home a championship title. However, this year the league had become much more competitive with some excellent new talent, and our team played merely mediocre. We ended the third season with a disappointing 3-3 record, and lost our only playoff game.
Fourth season we were determined to accomplish something. We knew we were better than we had played the previous season, our team has a lot of raw talent despite not being physically impressive or overly athletic. Further, we were the underdogs coming in, and had something to prove.
The first night we played a double header and won both games, a promising start. However, the next two games the team did not play together well; we had trouble getting the whole team to show up and dropped both games. The second game we were showing some signs of life, but the opposing team’s quarterback had an incredible throwing arm and picked us apart with lightning fast accurate passes. After this we dropped the unreliable team members and finalized our roster, and suddenly our team was clicking again: we won two quality games and our team was really starting to come together. The final game of the season we played well, but made some mistakes and dropped the game in a fairly even matchup.
Fast forward to today, first game of the playoffs. We are going in with a modest 4 and 3 record, but are confident that we have the ability to pull through and win the championship. Confident, that is, until we find out who our first game is against: The Grizzlies. The Grizzlies are the number 1 ranked team in the league with a 6 and 0 record. They have won every game by a margin of at least 8 points, even against the team with the rocket arm quarterback. Further, they well deserve the name “The Grizzlies”: their team is full of tall, athletic, physically intimidating players. It will take a miracle to defeat them, but we are sure we can do it if we play our absolute best and don’t make any mistakes.
At game start we are pumped up and determined to play our best. We get the ball first, and utilize our speed with running and short passes to march down the field and score: 7-0 Regulators. The Grizzlies get the ball and prepare to dominate as they are accustomed to, but we won’t give in that easy. They rely heavily on their deep passing game, but we have placed our three tallest and most athletic players on deep coverage, and manage to put the pressure on as we knock down deep passes. However, The Grizzlies are a well rounded team and successfully march down the field for a touchdown. With the 2 point conversion they are up 8-7. Our offense gets the ball and again successfully marches down the field against a tough defense. With the ball only a few yards from the endzone, we pull one of our trick plays: the ball is hiked to someone on the line of scrimmage rather than the quarterback, a perfectly legal play as long as the person who receives the ball is the one who called hike. However, the referee did not see who called for the hike and overturned a valid touchdown. Next play The Grizzlies intercept it in the endzone, and capitalize on the turnover by scoring a touchdown several plays later. We now are down 14-7 with the ball, and again drive down the field for a touchdown. At the end of the first half, the score is 14-13 Grizzlies. We know that it is possible to beat them, but we will have to play near perfect.
Begin the second half: The Grizzlies have the ball and are looking to put the game away. They start the half with an aggressive drive and successfully convert for 2 extra points, making the score 22-13. The Regulators get the ball again, and this time The Grizzlies stop us in our tracks, forcing a turnover. Once again The Grizzlies manage to convert, putting them up a resounding 30-13. Our offense scores on the next drive, but we are down 30-19 and time is becoming an issue. The Grizzlies drive the ball to the 3 yard line and are poised to strike with yet another touchdown. Things are looking grim with only 5 minutes left in the game. But this is when our defense makes itself known: First play, incomplete pass. Second play, ball knocked down. Third play, interception! The ball is returned deep to their own 10 yard line, and our offense quickly converts for a touchdown: 30-25. The Grizzlies prepare for another asssault, but our defense holds true. Three plays and zero yards later, they are forced to punt. This gives our offense the ball with 2 minutes remaining in the game and two thirds of the football field to cover. At this point I am on the sidelines (I play defense) praying as hard as I can; I’ve never wanted a victory as much as this. Four plays and a key pass gives us the first down. Two more plays and we have the ball on the one yard line, but nobody is open and our quarterback is forced to throw it out of bounds to stop the clock.
So here it is, the defining moment of the game. Fourth down, one yard to go for a touchdown, 25 seconds remaining in the game. A touchdown here puts us up by one point and gives us the victory. The play begins: our receivers run routes, scrambling to get open. The quarterback dodges back and forth looking for an open route, but the defense knows his speed and covers him close. The pass is up! It arcs to the left, where there is one receiver and one man covering. The receiver races for the ball…
And it sails over his head uncatchable.
The clock runs out, The Grizzlies advance to the next round of the playoffs, and we are eliminated. The defeat is bitter, but that is not what we feel. We feel pride and satisfaction, because we know that to a man, each of us played his best and left the field with nothing left to give. The Grizzlies congratulate us on being the toughest opponents they have played this season, and we know we can compete with anyone in the league. I didn’t expect to ever say this, but I have never felt so satisfied with a loss. We were, for those who know the movie, Friday Night Lights’ Perfect.
I look forward to next season, and hope to say once again that I gave my all.