Are you ever losing by a lot, and when you are, do you ever give up? Giving up is the worst thing you can do, whether it is something you are trying to learn, something you are trying to overcome, or something you are trying to win.  I was once losing in the most important football game of my life, but I didn’t stop trying, and I learned the important skill of perseverance.

Waiting in the frigid air with an immense coat over my pads, I was numb. Disappointment filled the air as the Guilderland team before us had lost their championship game. Promenading around in what seemed like below zero weather, trying to keep warm, I knew it was going to be cold, but not this cold. The butterflies in my stomach felt more like pigeons because I was anxious of what would come from this game. Eventually, we started to warm up as a team, which created even more hesitancy because we would now be much closer to game time. We weighed in, and then went into a small shed. Our coach gave a gavalizing speech, and we were all ready and hyped up for the game.

The hype of our team and all of our energy slowly went down as the game started, considering we weren’t able to do anything on offense and they scored in less than four plays. Most of the team had already given up. We started to become lazy and not care; we all thought we were going to lose. Half time came, and you could feel the bad energy. We could hear the disappointment in our coach’s words. We had to pick up the pace.  We still had another half, and we weren’t going to give up.

Coming into the second half the score was six to nothing...they were winning.  But we now had the ball. We kept trying to run inside but soon realized that was not working for us. It was too late to switch it though because the other team got the ball from a fumble. They ran the ball, getting many yards, and were now at our twenty-yard line. Anger filled our veins; they were about to score again, but we stepped up and stopped them, forcing them to punt.

 Our coach called for a jet sweep to me. I was ready to sprint as hard as I could. I got the ball and immediately saw that there was a lot of open field for a good twenty yards. Sprinting as fast as I could, I gained sixteen yards before getting hit; I drove my shoulder right into him as more of his teammates came to help. I got an additional six yards after the hit and was now hyped up. The next play was the same play, yet now to the other side. I was lined up on the other side of the ball as the whole other team and their coaches were screaming to watch for me getting the ball. Hearing that gave me even more excitement. I could feel my heart pounding. I could tell this would be a big run. The play started, and the cold rock-hard ball was put into my frozen hands. I got past two people, then three, the crowd screaming. But it was all a blur. The only thing my mind was set on was scoring, and winning this game. I cut in, then back out, and was in the endzone.

“TOUCHDOWN TOMMY DWYER!” a kid yelled over the speaker. The whole team came running to the endzone. You could feel the excitement among us. 

After that touchdown, we were more alive, and we knew that we were back in the game and could still win it. We got another touchdown, the score was now thirteen to twelve, and we were winning. It was now the fourth quarter, and they just got the ball back from us. If they scored here we would lose.

“We need a stop here, boys!” our coach yelled. On the first play, they ran for twenty yards. The pigeons flew right back into my stomach, yet they now felt not like butterflies, or pigeons, but vultures. It was looking like we wouldn’t be able to stop them. They kept running and running down the field. We finally got a stop, and then another. Soon enough it was fourth down. This one play determined the entire game. They gave the ball to a massive kid; he was probably double my size and terrifying. He was running to my side and gaining speed. He only needed five more yards to get the first down, but… I pushed him out of bounds before he made it there. At that point we all knew we won the game. The entire team came running to me, and they all jumped on top of me; it felt like a truck was parked on me. Everyone was yelling and shouting, even our coaches. You would have thought each of us won the lottery. The excitement slowly died out as we went over to get the championship trophy. The whole team was still talking about it weeks later.

When you are losing, never give up. That day when I had that game,  I learned an important skill. That skill is perseverance. When I was losing in that game I didn’t quit; I tried even harder.  Trying harder ended up with us winning. Always push yourself and never quit.

 

 

-Tommy