Monday Night Lights; Locust Fork 7-8th Grade Football Kicks Off

It's Monday Night Football, but Hank isn't singing a song about it and it's not on TV.  It's the 2009 Locust Fork Hornets 7th and 8th grade football team.  This is the future folks.  Plus, my son plays on the team so I'll be at all of the games and I'll be reporting on them.

Last night, the Hornets travelled to Good Hope to take on the Raiders.  The score looks a lot worse than the game actually was. 

Locust Fork got the opening kickoff and, on the first play from scrimmage, threw a pass 35 yards and into the red zone.  2 plays later, it was 6-0 Locust Fork and it looked like they would keep it going.

On Good Hopes first play from scrimmage, they reeled off a 50-yard touchdown run, only to have it called back due to holding.  The Raiders did eventually make it into the end zone and they converted the 2-point try to make the score 8-6 Good Hope. 

After that score, it became a defensive struggle.  Neither team could get much going.  Finally, in the third quarter, the Hornets made their way into field goal range and nailed a 25-yard field goal to make the score 9-8 Hornets. 

It stayed that way until an unusual turn of events.  With 3 minutes left in the game, Good Hope was driving and had the momentum.  It was time for a heat time-out and the referee's told the coaches that they had a player bleeding and they needed to wrap it up.  Well, the Locust Fork coaches were under the impression that they had time due to an injury time out, when it was a heat time out.  So, the Good Hope players lined up and ran a play before the Hornets defense could get into position and the Raiders went up 14-9. 

There was still time left to score and make it a game, but Locust Fork threw an interception and Good Hope scored on the next play to make it 20-9. 

After the strange play, the air just came out of the Hornets.  It was not as ugly as the score indicated.  It wasn't the referees' fault, although it should have been made clear that it was a heat time out, but the players should have still kept their heads up and in the game. 

Locust Fork showed that they could hang with a much bigger team and a team that had way more players than they did.  The Hornets were way outnumbered and it didn't show at all.  So, the future looks bright for these boys and, if they can learn how to face adversity a little better, they will be just fine.