Commentary: State Semifinal - Borden County vs Happy

Sunny. Warmer. It was a beautiful day in Levelland for a football game. I seem to remember last year at this time it wasn’t so great. I loaded up my dad and off we went after getting in at 2:00AM that same day. I’m telling you… my dad is a real trooper, and there’s no one who could have kept him from attending Borden County vs Happy. And I was right there with him!
 
This game would be bitter sweet. I’ve watched both teams all season. I saw both Happy and Borden County in scrimmages and in several games during the regular season. When you run up and down the sidelines with a team, you come to understand the players and coaches. I know that McCarley is going to get an ungodly amount of yards and that Jackson is going to go up and grab some spectacular passes out of the air. I know that Dalton Gray is one of the best defenders in the state. I hate that he missed playing in this game.
 
I saw blood on nearly every Coyote’s bright white pants. I know that Proulx and Richey will hammer anyone in their way on both sides of the ball. And I know that I’ll catch great reactions from Coaches Richey, Edwards, and Keith as they become very animated on the sidelines. One thing I know about these two teams is that they go for the jugular but also do not hesitate to extend a hand to help a competitor up off the turf or pat each other on the shoulder pads. They are fierce competitors but also display great sportsmanship. 
 
I don’t have anything to say that others haven’t already said. I do know I will miss watching these teams with their current players. An epic battle is what this game turned out to be. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… the score was not indicative of what went on down on the field. Two giants fought. And I am glad I was there to see it up close and personal.
 
Observations from the game:

• Levelland has a wonderful facility!
• Thank goodness the concession stand had two separates sides to it! The crowd that assembled to watch Borden County vs Happy was quite large and descended into these two areas all at once!
• I really like that the Happy horn is mounted on top of a chariot. That is just the coolest way to display a horn!
• The need for pickle juice on the sidelines in the playoffs is great. I saw a huge jug of it on the Balmorhea sideline on Friday and a large gallon of it on the Borden County bench as well. In both cases, it was appropriately labeled. Thank goodness for that!
• A fellow Jaybird (who happens to coach for one of the teams) surprised me for the first time in 30 years. I won’t go into details but he does get very excited, and it happened toward the end of the game. If any of you witnessed it… it’s all good. I laughed out loud!
  

If you missed any of the State Semifinal games, you still have one more chance to get your last sixman football fix in before having to wait long, excruciating months for it to start back up again. Head to Arlington! December 20th is the day. And if you can’t be there, listen to both games. Borden County vs Jonesboro and Balmorhea vs Strawn. It’s going to be a great day! Until then, Go Forward and Do GOOD!