I came to the realization that this is go time. All it took was Coach Sommers to say, “Let’s go boys,” for me to bring myself back to Earth. The tone was set when we began to line up before heading out to the field. It was all hostility built up into one long walk to the field.
We hit the field running and made it to the endzone and huddled up. In the words that allowed the hype to be present, Coach Sommers said, “It’s time to release the dogs.” It was all fun and games for Shawnee; we were as serious as it gets. During the stretching routine nothing was said although you could hear the high-fives being given to the players from coaches.
Once the stretching was done the dogs were released. It was time to kick off. I was nervous beyond belief