‘If you mess with one man, you got us all’

Senior+Blaine+Hedlund+leads+the+team+with+the+flag+in+the+season+opener+on+Sept.+4+at+Lansing.+Each+game%2C+the+seniors+choose+who+carries+the+flag.

Roni Mikessell

Senior Blaine Hedlund leads the team with the flag in the season opener on Sept. 4 at Lansing. Each game, the seniors choose who carries the flag.

Dirk Beashore, Sports Editor

Coming out of the locker room, touching the sign above the door that reads “Our House.” Walking down the hill to see all of the youth football players and middle schoolers reaching out for high-fives. Breaking through the banner with the “Pirates of the Caribbean” theme music playing and the Pirate flag, flying majestically in the air. Making that final run over to the sideline and seeing all the purple in the stands gives players an indescribable feeling.

Head coach Chris Brindle preaches, “You can’t get that feeling anywhere else. You can’t just buy it at an amusement park.”

Of course, those lines may sound familiar. Country singer Kenny Chesney expressed that sentiment in his popular song “The Boys of Fall.” For fans and athletes, Chesney captured the essence of the Friday night lights experience

And every Friday night for the past two-plus years I’ve run on the field and have tried to figure out what it is, but I still can’t describe that feeling. That’s when I realized the song lyrics and the coach’s mantra are the truth. You can’t get that feeling at an amusement park or anywhere else. Maybe it’s because of all the hard work the team put in over the summer, or all the hills the players ran as a team, but there is more than just a bond it’s almost like we’re brothers.

And, for four quarters, just like every other player, I know my brothers will get my back no matter what happens.

Chesney perfectly describes what the brotherhood is like: “It’s I got your number, I got your back, when your back’s against the wall. You mess with one man, you got us all.”

Winning is certainly the goal every week, but no matter what the outcome, running onto the field on Friday night, looking back at everything that we did as team to prepare and looking up at the support from friends and family, proves that hard work pays off.