This weekend there were a whole bunch of activities! It was Halloween, Homecoming, Parents Weekend, Senior Day, and our final home football game of the season.
My whole family came for this weekend. My dad, mom. brother, grandma, and aunt all showed up to come see me play and to visit. It was really amazing to see all of them again. I hadn’t seen them since my last game in California, against Whittier in September (well, except my grandma came to my game against Puget Sound in Tacoma).
On Friday my mom, aunt, and grandma all arrived here at LC, and I was able to have lunch with them at the Bon. While eating lunch, we caught up on everything that happened since we last saw each other and laughed at the Halloween costumes. My friend was a banana, there was a carton of milk, a jellyfish, a nun, a cardinal, and a pope, and one of my coaches was dressed up as Serena Williams! After we finished, they went on a tour of the school while I finished classes for the day. Then came the part I was looking forward to the most: my family took me out to dinner! As a poor college student, it was wonderful to get off campus and enjoy food I would otherwise be unable to find or afford. We went to a pizza place called Cibo in southeast Portland. The bartender was dressed up for Halloween! I think he was Einstein...at least his hair looked like it! After dinner, I came back to campus to get some rest for our game the next day.
The next day we played Pacific University, one of the top teams in our conference. With all the activities of the weekend happening all at once, emotions were running high for our team. Before we got ready, I got the chance to go out and see my brother and dad, who had just arrived that morning. For the game, the school set up a giant tent for a special tailgate event at the end of the endzone for alumni, parents, and faculty to eat clam chowder and watch the game. We even got to wear our special orange jerseys for the first time all season for this game.
Now as the game got started, we realized that this team wasn’t even that good. The first half was close, with our two teams going back and forth. The second half is when we caught fire! Our offense was able to score 42 points in the game, almost all the total points we have had for the season up to that point. In the 4th quarter things got wild. Our teams were tied when we kicked a pooch kick (a short kick that only goes 10 or 20 yards) that we were able to recover! Then a few minutes later we scored to take the lead 42-35 with only two minutes left! Unfortunately, they managed to tie the game and send it into overtime. They won the coin toss and elected to give us the ball first. Now in college football, overtime is different from the NFL. Each team gets a chance to score by starting from the 25 yard line, and has to try to score. If each team is tied after each possession, then it is repeated until someone wins.
On our first possession, we were unable to move the ball and had to settle for a field goal attempt. Sadly, we missed, ending our turn and giving Pacific the ball. Within four plays they had scored a touchdown and won. It was heartbreaking, but it was one of the best games I have ever been a part of. It gives me a lot of hope that we can win our last game against George Fox University.
After the game I went out to dinner with my family again and hung out with my brother that night. I took them to downtown Portland and gave them a mini tour of where I had been. My brother was extremely happy to see the huge Nike store. He wanted to go to Voodoo Doughnut, but there was a long line, and we were tired. We decided not to stand in line. I spent the night in the hotel with my family where my brother hogged the whole bed!
Overall, it was an exciting weekend!
Until next week, guys,
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| Action shot from the game that my mom took of me! |
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| My brother, Alex, and I in front of Copeland. |