Friday Night Lights 2013: Week 4
At halftime tonight, my dad turned to me and said, “Can you believe it’s Week 4 already?” Not really. But it was, and I believe that means the high school football regular season is half over — already.
It was a beautiful and chilly night for high school football; tonight became the first pants-and-sweatshirt game. My dad and I headed to Bates Field for City High’s 1,000th varsity football game. According to an article printed in today’s P-C, City High is likely the second high school in Iowa to have reached that milestone. However, there really are no official state records, and even the folks at City High were unaware of the occasion. Former City High coach and teacher, John Raffensperger, alerted the athletic director last week. In commemoration, the players wore snazzy-looking throwback logos on their helmets and there were a number of raffle prizes being handed out.
Despite its historic significance, though, the game itself proved to be business as usual for the Jeff-CHS series.
On the opening drive of the game, Jefferson drove the ball inside the City High 30-yard line. On third-down, the QB fumbled and City High recovered. A few plays later, the Little Hawks scored on a 43-yard run. On their next drive, the J-Hawks made it all the way to the City High goal line. On fourth-down, they failed to punch the ball into the end zone and the Little Hawks took over. A few drives later, City High scored again to push the score to 14-0. But the J-Hawks drove down the field in the final moments of the first half. They reached the CHS 30 and their lefty kicker set-up for a long field goal to end the half. A false start backed them up another five yards, so the kid looked to be attempting a 45-yarder — a flippin’ long kick for high school football. However, his kick looked like it would have been good from 55; it sailed through the uprights to cut the lead to 14-3.
Like I said, it was an absolutely beautiful night and halftime put the icing on the quintessential cake. As the band performed the hits of Earth, Wind & Fire, the full moon rose over the trees along First Avenue and was partly obscured by thin, low lying clouds. The air was starting to become chilly and to finish their performance the band played “September.” It was fitting to a T.
City High accepted the second half kickoff and pushed the score to 21-3 on the ensuing drive, using an upback to walk the ball across the goal line. The Little Hawks have powered over their Week 2 and 3 opponents and it was nice to see the offense doing damage after seeing it shut out in Week 1. City High powered in for another score later in the third to push the score to 28-3. The J-Hawks notched a fourth-down touchdown pass when dad and I were heading out at the beginning of the fourth, but the game was basically over. The final was 35-10.
Though it is only a coincidence, I thought it was somewhat fitting that City High played Jefferson in the school’s 1,000th football game — at least on a personal level. The first City High game I remember attending was the 1992 Jeff-CHS tilt. Both schools were undefeated and the home and visiting stands were packed. The J-Hawks took the field behind a cheerleader running with a massive white flag with a blue J in the center. I do not remember much else about that game except for a spate of holding penalties against City High at the beginning and that the Little Hawks were up 21-0 at halftime. The final score was 21-14.
It was a beautiful and chilly night for high school football; tonight became the first pants-and-sweatshirt game. My dad and I headed to Bates Field for City High’s 1,000th varsity football game. According to an article printed in today’s P-C, City High is likely the second high school in Iowa to have reached that milestone. However, there really are no official state records, and even the folks at City High were unaware of the occasion. Former City High coach and teacher, John Raffensperger, alerted the athletic director last week. In commemoration, the players wore snazzy-looking throwback logos on their helmets and there were a number of raffle prizes being handed out.
Despite its historic significance, though, the game itself proved to be business as usual for the Jeff-CHS series.
On the opening drive of the game, Jefferson drove the ball inside the City High 30-yard line. On third-down, the QB fumbled and City High recovered. A few plays later, the Little Hawks scored on a 43-yard run. On their next drive, the J-Hawks made it all the way to the City High goal line. On fourth-down, they failed to punch the ball into the end zone and the Little Hawks took over. A few drives later, City High scored again to push the score to 14-0. But the J-Hawks drove down the field in the final moments of the first half. They reached the CHS 30 and their lefty kicker set-up for a long field goal to end the half. A false start backed them up another five yards, so the kid looked to be attempting a 45-yarder — a flippin’ long kick for high school football. However, his kick looked like it would have been good from 55; it sailed through the uprights to cut the lead to 14-3.
Like I said, it was an absolutely beautiful night and halftime put the icing on the quintessential cake. As the band performed the hits of Earth, Wind & Fire, the full moon rose over the trees along First Avenue and was partly obscured by thin, low lying clouds. The air was starting to become chilly and to finish their performance the band played “September.” It was fitting to a T.
City High accepted the second half kickoff and pushed the score to 21-3 on the ensuing drive, using an upback to walk the ball across the goal line. The Little Hawks have powered over their Week 2 and 3 opponents and it was nice to see the offense doing damage after seeing it shut out in Week 1. City High powered in for another score later in the third to push the score to 28-3. The J-Hawks notched a fourth-down touchdown pass when dad and I were heading out at the beginning of the fourth, but the game was basically over. The final was 35-10.
Though it is only a coincidence, I thought it was somewhat fitting that City High played Jefferson in the school’s 1,000th football game — at least on a personal level. The first City High game I remember attending was the 1992 Jeff-CHS tilt. Both schools were undefeated and the home and visiting stands were packed. The J-Hawks took the field behind a cheerleader running with a massive white flag with a blue J in the center. I do not remember much else about that game except for a spate of holding penalties against City High at the beginning and that the Little Hawks were up 21-0 at halftime. The final score was 21-14.
