Charge Ahead

And those Chargers did it again! Oldest and his team of brothers came out to the game on Friday night and shut down Centreville. Final score 30-13 and how that team got that 13 is beyond me. I believe the second string was sent in, giving Centreville a moment to put themselves on the scoreboard.

Friends, amazing game. Uh-May-Zinggg. It has to be written that way, because it was every bit so. I was so nervous going in. This was the Regional semi-finals game and who knows what Centreville was bringing to the party. Admittedly, they beat us in the regular season, so there's the added anxiety that they could somehow do it again. On the other hand, Oldest was ready. His team was ready, and they were all feeling like they owned this game before they stepped on the field. Shutting down the trash-talking running back was job #1. Oooo boy. Did they shut him down. Centreville didn't score a single point until 4th quarter. We ran right over top of those boys. All year we have been heavy on defense and ehhh on offense. Our defense has been carrying our wins. Yet, this game, offense came out and showed some real talent and skill for putting the points up.

Let's just say, this lovely mama had NO appetite until 2nd quarter. Two minutes into the game Chantilly scored. Made it look so easy, even I could have done it. Okay, we know that's not true, but that run was sure beautiful. By the time we reached the 2nd quarter I could finally exhale a little bit. When we pulled ahead of them by 20+ points I hit the concession stand. During my food visit, I apparently missed the play of the game in the Copeland household. Oldest had a tackle on that running back that probably left the boy seeing stars. Now this is important because this young man happens to be the same boy who got a full-page spread about him in the newspaper last week. Over-confident and sounding a little arrogant, he went into this game knowing they would win. Boy, was he mistaken. From the stands, it was plainly obvious that every chance he got, he was in our boys face talking some serious smack. We could see the finger pointing, neck rolling. And Oldest, just as calm and cool as can be. Oldest said, "scoreboard, baby. scoreboard." Yes, friends, the points don't lie. Nor did they disappoint.

So while I missed that huge tackle, www.gamedaymagazine.com has a fabulous picture of it that i intend to purchase in a size extra large. Let me just tell you, Oldest is all over this boy like white on rice. What a fun game to be a part of. We are all very proud of this team. We advance on Saturday to face Lake Braddock for the Regional Finals. Can you see that we are inching our way to States? Lake Braddock is a good team, with a star quarterback. But they will be shut down. Just like the other teams we have faced. Our defense is ridiculous. Teams that are historically scoring in the double digits have struggled to score at all.

Worst and best part of the game: At the conclusion of this fabulous game, our boys line up to shake hands. Where is Centreville? Oh, man. They are huddled in the corner of the field. It takes a few short seconds to realize they have no intention of shaking hands. None. Really? This coach wasn't insisting that his boys showed good sportsmanship? Tacky. So amidst my screaming for Chantilly to go over to them, show them what class looks like, our fabulous coaches tell the boys to do just that. And thank goodness for that. If you can't take your butt whipping fair and square you have no business playing. With the county league of elementary and middle school boys, I can understand having a hard time swallowing the loss. But these boys are almost men. Too old to be acting like babies. I know if we lost we would have still lined up to shake hands. Disappointed, tears flowing, but would have shook hands.

As Chantilly crossed over to the corner huddle spot, Centreville clearly still wasn't interested in shaking hands. Our boys did their best and congratulated them on a good season. Oldest told me that when they reached the third quarter, trash-talker running back actually stopped running his mouth and tears were flowing down his face. Oldest said at that moment he truly felt bad for him. They totally expected to win, and when the realization set in that they wouldn't and that this was the end of their season, his heart began to ache. I felt bad for him too. You know I did. But...I must move on. Lake Braddock on Saturday. Um. They have a quarterback with a verbal commitment to attend Conneticut on a four year scholarship. Um. They are a good team. They lost one game this season, to Robinson, and we beat Robinson. We have more than a glimmer of a chance. We can shut them down. This past week, Lake Braddock won the game, against Robinson in the playoffs by 1 point. They obviously had to fight hard for that win. We'll give them something to fight for. Saturday, friends...Saturday.