Winning With Heart: The Hurricanes Head on the Road

Philly Aztec Coaches Scouting the Hurricanes

The Quest for the Championship is starting to get pret-ty intense.

When we arrived at the stadium this morning, for the 2nd round of the Regional Playoffs, competing for a berth to the Semi-Finals, my friend Sabrina (otherwise known as “Isaiah’s Mom”) whispered in my ear: “We’ve got scouts here. From Pennsylvania.”

I tried to be surreptitous as I glanced over my shoulder. Sure enough, the Aztec coaches from Philly were easy to spot holding down their own row up at the top of the stands. Sabrina’s husband, Pastor Bob, said they were taking notes and writing down numbers.

I have to remind myself that none of these coaches get paid a nickel. And last time I checked, gas prices were still around $2.35 a gallon.

Well, they certainly got a game to see. Our undefeated team, which hasn’t seen the end of a game without being in double-digits all season, found themselves headed into the fourth quarter winning by only one point. 7 to 6.

And the other team had the ball.

The Big Play: Fourth and Goal

Our coaches preach to the boys all the time: “Nobody beats us in the fourth quarter.”

But today, well, it wasn’t looking so good. All we had to do was just hang on. But the other team drove down the field and time was running out.

Finally we were facing Armageddon. FIRST down on the SEVEN YARD LINE.

My boy was out there on the defensive line. I could barely breathe. It hurt so bad to think: we weren’t going to Florida. . . no, we weren’t even going to the Regional Finals!

Fourth and goal. On the four yard line. I could hardly watch the play. I didn’t want to watch our opposition cross the goal-line. . .

#1 Martin, #3 Bob, #2 Justin, #6 Davelle

But I didn’t. They didn’t. They did not score.

Nobody beats us in the fourth quarter!

I still can’t believe it. But it’s true. The Hurricanes kept the opposition from scoring inside the red zone for (more than) four downs.

We’re headed on the road.

The Littlest Linebacker with Head Coach James Bell

Julius Weems

In the post-game coaches’ talk, Hurricane President, Julius Weems, a former football superstar at University of Maryland, told the boys that, ultimately, they won the game with their hearts.

Finally, in a new Reasoned Audacity tradition, here is this week’s Breakdown celebration!

And let’s not forget the Cliffhanger: What will next week be like up against a team (we’re Div II brackets) whose coaches want to win badly enough to drive down here just to scout out our team? C’mon back next weekend and find out.