Football isn’t my favorite sport. But the emotions that overwhelmed me during my last Varsity Football game were inexpressible; a combination of chills, excitement, and a whole lot of nerves. There isn’t one word nor is there one emotion that accurately describes a Friday night football game at Brewster High School. A home football game in front of the rowdy Bears’ Den is one of the most exhilarating experiences I have had throughout my years in high school. When I am on the field with my teammates and look up to the Den, I witness all of my friends jumping up and down, screaming chants as loud as they can scream. There is nothing like it.

This final home game felt just like every football game I’ve played since sophomore year. I still had the chills, and anxiousness, but I also had the reminder that I would never play another football game on Brewster’s home field in front of all our fans ever again. Win or lose. We played our hearts out against Yorktown. We didn’t play our best game, but we most certainly gave it everything we had.

I told myself before the game started that I wouldn’t shed a tear. But I couldn’t keep that promise as I watched the clock approach the final seconds of my last home game. I shook hands and hugged the teammates I’ve practiced with since the spring of last year. The teammates I went into the weightroom with after school and sweated all summer with right up until the season started. The teammates I went through two weeks of double session practices with in the blazing hot sun.

We lost, but that game taught us something.

Coach Mulvihill yelled a big thanks to our fans in the Bears’ Den – they deserve all the credit in the world. After we joined hands during the playing of the Alma Mater, we gathered up in our end zone and took a knee as we always do. Our coaches told us that even though we lost, we still had the opportunity to play football in front of our friends and families which should never be taken for granted.

Yes we lost, but I couldn’t be happier with my decision to play football. I got to play under the lights, on Brewster’s home field, in front of the Bears’ Den with my brothers.