We were!! Hey!! It's Friday Night Lights here on the Central Coast of Oregon and the Tigers of Taft High were ready for their second game of the season against Blanchet Catholic.
The Tigers had travelled the week before and lost a close one to the Astoria Fishermen, 26-21. Now they were geared up and ready to take on the Cavaliers of Blanchet Catholic, a private school over in Salem.
We arrived about a half hour before kick-off and the stands were already busy and you could feel the excitement in the air. The kids in the band were getting set up and the bleachers were filling up.
I like the feel of a high school football game. In a small town it's even better. The kids here know they can't pull any crap because everyone knows who they are. These kids know the adults sitting over there will see their parents sometime this coming week and if Junior acts up then Mom and Dad will be getting an earful soon.
There is something to be said for having small schools.
Plus more kids are involved. All the things they have at the Big City School games...band, boosters, cheers, team, everything, are here, too. The big difference is that most every kid in this school is involved in some way if they want. Unfortunately, that is not so with the Big City Schools.
Hey!! Get on the field and cheer, Man!!
Reminds me of the Tiger that used to get into my gas tank!!
OK, to our defense, this was our first experience with Taft High and so we can be forgiven for thinking these girls were the cheers for Taft. They weren't. They're the cheerleaders for Blanchet Catholic. I got a bunch of pictures of them before I learned who they were and then, suddenly, they weren't as photogenic as before.
Goooooo, Tigers!!
(wherever you are!!)
Tony the Tiger (My name, I don't know what the kids call him) finally made it to the field. You can see the fog from earlier in the day was still lingering. In fact, the whole day and evening were pretty much foggy. That was another first, too.
Goooooo, Tigers!!
And here they are!!
The Tigers of Taft High School.
And the game got started. These boys play some hard football. There were good hits and a lot of hustle. One thing I noticed is that the boys kept on hustling until the whistle blew. Good job, Coach!!
But, things didn't go well for the Tigers. An interception, a fumble and some hard play and second effort put the Cavaliers out ahead of the Tigers, 21-0, at the end of the First Quarter.
It was like Blanchet could do no wrong.
But the Tigers of Taft never gave up. Nope!! They kept on fighting even though they were really being pushed around on the field.
We were seated on the north end of the field...the end toward the Blanchet fans. There's a reason for this madness, though. It was also the end furtherest away from the band and the kids.
Neither of them needed an old fat man scowling and grimacing every time they set out to make a little noise for their team. And, me? I sure didn't need the constant aggravation being around a bunch of brain-dead teenagers causes me. It was a win-win for all of us to have me sit well away from the band and the kids.
And it was a nice little stadium, too. You'll see.
Even though they were getting spanked on the field, the cheers were still working hard.
Whoa!! Tigers score!!!
And here comes the Spirit Flag, making a tour!!
I was anxious to try the snack bar. However, every time I went up there it was crowded. Finally, in a bit of desperation, I got into line.
See the guy there, on the right? He was there when I arrived working out his order with the lady at the counter. Then he had to pay for it and work that out with the lady at the counter. Then the lady at the counter began to slowly assemble his order....here's four Pepsi's...and when she headed back for more I gave up and went back to my seat.
Curses, foiled again!!
Oh, nice snack bar in the stadium, eh? Always busy, dammit!!
And, as I made my grumbly way back to my seat I had to pass the tasty and tangy aroma of burgers burnin' on the Barbie.
Oh, the humanity!!
Now, as you look there is a large room just behind this lady at the Barbie. In that room they had a local Barrista selling coffee and other trendy drinks. I would have gone in for a coffee but, you guessed it, the lines were too long!!
#**$%^@#* %#@# &^#(@ kids!!
And still the fog stayed on.
Here's the other Tiger mascot. His head is a bit bigger.
And the action on the field was still hot and heavy.
Another thing I saw was that there were a good number of these boys who were playing both ways in the game. We used to do that back in the Olden Days but now if you go to a Big City School you'll rarely find a boy playing both sides of the ball. I figure there were about 40 boys on each squad.
Lots of passes, too.
Oh, this makes me nervous. My Granddaughter, Alexis, was a cheer and did something like this. It scares me. But these young ladies pulled it off well and did it several times.
As the night wore on, the fog stayed around and the temp dropped and the wind picked up.
See all the people with food? They all had kids they could force into waiting in line for them to get what they wanted.
Finally, halftime. I was feeling pretty pessimistic about the Taft Tiger's chances.
Small Town America.
This was fun!! When it was just a couple minutes before the end of halftime and the boys coming back onto the field, the cheers ran across the field with a banner for the team. Then, as I imagine it has happened hundreds of times before, kids, small and big, began pouring out of the stands and racing across the field after the cheers to welcome their team back onto the field.
Love it!! The boys burst through and then huddled in the center of the field while the fans streamed back across the field to the stands.
Goooooo, Tigers!!
And soon the game was on again. And the Tigers never gave up.
By golly, they began making a comeback, playing the Cavaliers for all they were worth!!
Getting close!!
But time and the weather told on Carol and I and we packed it up at the end of the Third Quarter. I got this shot from the parking lot looking back at the field in the fog.
Imagine our pleasure when we got back to the Mini and found that the local radio station, KBCH 1400 AM, was broadcasting the game. We were able to listen to that game as we drove back. The Taft Tigers never gave up, battling the Cavaliers down to the wire.
Taft would fall, 33-28, but they never gave up. It was a contest down to the end.
We had a great time. The game was lively and well-played. The crowd was fun and well-behaved. The food...must have been good because the lines were always long.
Hahaha, we enjoyed it. We're looking forward to going to the next home game. However, that won't be next week as the Tigers are traveling to Sheridan, about 40 miles away, to battle with the Spartans of Sheridan/Sheridan Japanese High.
Battle on, Tigers!!
When you can participate in something like this you know that life is good.
Hooah!!
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