My first varsity football game was an eye opening experience and also one I will never forget. Coming out of middle school, I was one of the best players in the league. I thought that it would automatically transfer over to my freshman year of high school. That’s until the first day of lifting over the summer. I could already tell that high school football was much different than middle school. The lifting was extreme & I hadn’t done much of anything in the previous year with it so it was new and vigorous. After making it through the summer lifting then came practice and actual football, the stuff I like. My teammates were all new and I wasn’t the most comfortable the first week or so but I grew to know my teammates better having six hour practices helped build bonds. 

All through summer our motto was “Beat Teays” which was our first opponent of the season. We had worked all the wasy from June until August practicing what we would do on the field. Earlier that day, I wore my jersey to school and hung out with all my buddies at lunch saying how excited we were to play later that night. All throughout the day, I could feel my heart racing, being so nervous. Eighth period was before me when I heard an announcement for everyone to come down to the gym and that we were going to have pep rally in order to pump everyone up for tonights game! 

The band playing and the cheerleaders cheering got me more excited then anything. I tried to clap then the bell rang sending a shivering chill down my spine knowing that school was now over and and soon it would be gametime. I was scared but also excited to play in my first varsity football game. Team meal was a time for me to sit down and relax for the first time that day. After that I got all the game gear ready and sat to wait for the bus. Seeing the bus pull up made me swallow my pride, I knew that Teays Valley was only a 30 minute drive away and that the time was getting close. The bus ride was an extremely humbling experience. There was nothing but silence. I listened to my music and waited for our arrival. 

Once upon arrival we got off the bus and went into the locker room. While I was getting dressed and getting my wrists taped, I remembered all I had done to get here. Stepping outside I had never been more nervous in my life.  I saw bleachers full of fans, cars filled up the parking lot and more were still to come. Walking out to the field was sending chills throughout my body. Hearing the cleats hit the black top, sounding like an army full of men getting led by their general, we walked out in unison to the field. Hearing so many fans cheer for the team and running through the banner being supported by the fans and cheerleaders. In just the blink of an eye, it was game time and i was starting. My debut as a cornerback was about to start.  

The first play didn’t come to me giving me the mindset, “hey, this might not be that bad afterall”. I was wrong throughout the course of the night, I found out the hard way that varsity football was 100% different from middle school, At the end of the game, we had battled hard but came up short, The feeling of losing I didn’t like but I learned a lot that day. Coming out of the locker room I had bags of ice on both shoulders from all the hits I had taken that night. As I got on the bus to go home, I fell asleep hoping we could get back to the school soon so I could go home and sleep until noon the next day. We all got off the bus and took off our gear for it to be washed. Coach gathered us up and told us all great effort. His final remark was “Be here at 6 am for practice tomorrow morning.”