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10/05/2007: "St. Joseph Defeats Lakeshore"

I honestly wish that every high school football stadium across America could be full every Friday night during the fall. I honestly wish that people would leave the restaurants and bars and the mundane tasks of their lives for just one night a week during the fall to pack gridiron stadiums. Would this not be a better nation if America were united on Sunday mornings and on Friday nights?

The atmosphere at St. Joseph High School was electric this past Friday night for a historical game between the St. Joseph Bears and the Lakeshore Lancers. Lakeshore had beaten St. Joseph seventeen consecutive times in high school football. The Bears were 5-0 going into this game, and Lakeshore was a shaky 4-1. Football fans in the area could smell an era of domination coming an end.

The stands were filled to their capacity of 5,300. The stadium announcer constantly had to remind fans to move from the reserved seating if they did not have a reserved seat. The general admission seats were filled to capacity, the overflow bleachers moved beyond the end zone were full, and standing room only places were hard to come by as well. Luckily, Dylan and I made it to the game well before 6 PM, so we were able to claim seats with relative ease. By the time the game started, there had to have been at least 1,000 people either in temporary seating or just standing.

I have not been a part of this community for very long, and I do not have any emotion invested in the Lakeshore/St. Joseph rivalry. However, I was delighted and honored to be a part of a historic game. The Bears who went 0-9 two seasons ago, the Bears who could not rise up and beat the Lancers in the regular season or in the second round of the playoffs, the Bears who and lost to Lakeshore for well over a decade, they rose up and defeated the Lancers 21-3 in a shaky, yet very decisive game. So, for me, this was not an exorcising of demons, but it was an electric event.

The first thing I noticed once I sat down was that Lakeshore had staked their claim to their side of the field. This flag you see below was one of about ten or so they had posted on the opposing stands. This was probably considered to be a great insult by the St. Joe team. My high school stadium was called “Death Valley,” so you can only imagine just how territorial we were over it.

Can you see how full the parking lot is in the distance? When Dylan and I drove up to the school, we were surprised to see tailgating in the parking lot. Apparently, this goes on every home game. So, I am just missing a big old time!

The pre-game warm-ups were important for us when we played.. Not only did we have to get our bodies loose and physically ready for battle, we had to get ourselves mentally ready as well. This was our first view of the opponent. We had to overcome the intimidation factor, and we had to create a factor of our own. We had to be more excited than the other team, and we had to let them know it.

I doubt that things have changed in twenty years.

Sometimes preparation can be a solitary event. This was more my style. I liked to be quiet and alone before and during the game.

The fans have to get prepared as well. Again, the fans have to establish a no-fear attitude, and they have to create an aura of intimidation.

I never got to be a part of a coin toss in all my years of playing football. So, I don’t really know what happens while the captains gather and talk with the officials. Does the mental game proceed, or does it halt? I’ve no clue.

When I saw the band approach the stadium, I just assumed it was the Lakeshore band. The color guard and the drum majors were dressed in red and black, which are Lakeshore colors. However, when the band entered the stadium, and marched on the track past the Lakeshore side, I could hear boos emanating from across the field. As it turns out, this is the St. Joseph band, and they just seem to have chosen colors that are great for competitions, and just lousy for the rival game of the year.

The National Anthem reminds us all that we are Americans, and we should be honored to be free to have Friday Night Lights. I was sitting behind some young St. Joe alumni, and their rendition of the National Anthem went something like this:

“. . . the land of the free,
and the home of the

BEEEAAARS!!!

I had to laugh at that. Yeah, a little off-color, but still funny.

I saw a gaggle of kids charge the field after the national anthem and form a human tunnel for the varsity team. I had actually seen this last year at both games against Lakeshore. The cheerleaders went bezerk once they could see the team walking out of the locker room. Since the St. Joe side of the field could not see them, seeing the cheerleaders get excited heightened the tension in the stands. Once they started rushing out, I could feel the pressure relax a bit. It was almost game time!

The teams are loaded and ready to go.

Here is another great tradition of Friday Nights: the marching band performance. The band chose a Mexican theme this year. Hence the red and black uniforms, apparently.

When St. Joe emerged from the locker room with a 14-3 halftime lead, we felt rather confident that the Bears could hold on and march to victory. If the Bears could hold Lakeshore to a punt to open the third quarter, and in turn marched down the field to score, they could take command of the game, and deal a serious blow to the Lancer morale.

Here is the only action shot from the game that turned out any good at all. This is the extra point attempt from St Joe’s 4th quarter touchdown.

With about thirty seconds left in the game, the St Joe student section started jumping the fence and gathering on the track. I wish I had a video camera to show the flow of kids. Once the seal broke, nothing was stopping them. Finally, the game ended, and the students charged the field. The two teams were barely able to line up and shake hands. The Lancers had to walk into a mob of celebration. Once the Lancers retreated to have a post-game huddle, the Bears charged the sideline, and shook their helmets in the air. The party had begun!