News

Finishing Well

Jacob Spenn

November 27, 2011

The rain had cleared but it was still a cool, windy day as the Warriors took the field in Buffalo for what would ultimately be the last time this season.  Cypress Christian had never been to the State Semi-Final game before, while Brook Hill had won it the past two years only to lose in the Championship game.  Brook Hill came into the game undefeated against TAPPS Division 3 teams.  In fact, they have beaten 7 of them by a combined score of 429 to 22.  No team had scored more than one touchdown, and none of them had scored in the first half.

Early on, it looked like Cypress might simply be the next victim as the Warriors were forced to punt on the first possession, and Brook Hill methodically drove down the field to the goal line.  The Warriors did not make it easy to punch the ball in, but eventually Brook Hill took a 7-0 lead.

Brook Hill was a much bigger team in number and in physical size, but football is about a lot more than physical size.  The Warriors had won eight straight games, but that was not the focus.  Winning is simply a by-product of true success.  It is hard to measure the love  teammates have for each other, and even more difficult to measure their heart.

The Warriors had trailed before and come back to win.  Just a few weeks prior against Evadale, they had done it in dramatic fashion.  The next possession started with a first down run by Ben Mitchell, and a few plays later he connected with his favorite target, Andrew Galloway, for a 40-yard catch. Jason Groll then punched the ball in from the two-yard line and the game was tied.

There was a great Cypress crowd that day who cheered until the end.  The Brook Hill crowd sat mostly stunned, as they had never been tied other than 0-0 in the first half against schools in our division.  It would happen again at 14.  Kyle Moon intercepted a pass, and Troy Mason picked up 30 yards on a spectacular fake punt.  Kyle Moon carried the ball into the end zone a few plays later.

Brook Hill went up 21 -14 and was driving again when Barnabas Odeyomi picked off another pass and nearly scored right before the half.  The Warriors were certainly doing what we had hoped.  They were playing their best football against their best competition of the season.  They were competing and would do so until the very end.

The third quarter was filled with punts, with the last one being snapped over the head of the Brook Hill punter giving the Warriors the chance to tie the game at 21.  At this point, the Warriors had lost starting QB Ben Mitchell and LT Phillip McCurry to injury, and had to settle for a field goal to make it 21-17.  The Warriors could not get a stop, and Brook Hill sustained a long drive which resulted in a touchdown with little time remaining.  Eventually Brook Hill advanced with a 28-17 victory.

The season ended, but the relationships will go on.  It was a great season to be a part of, and one that no one will ever forget.  It started 0-4 but finished well. Frosty Westering, a great college football coach, once said, “How a man plays the game shows something of his character; how he loses shows all of it.” One thing that was not in the box score, but was amazing to watch, is how the Warriors picked up their opponent after almost every play.  Most of the seniors have been playing for Coach Spenn for six years, and in that time they have learned what it truly means to compete.  There is value in playing the game even when you do not win.

The season ended like every game with one final huddle.  This time the seniors all got a game ball.  Coach Spenn shared that he would rather go home with this team as a loser than move on with any other team.  It was a great season; the best in school history.

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