I have never really been much a fan of HS football, but Kelsey's boyfriend Devon was a senior offensive lineman, so I attended the games this season with her and for him. Pretty much all season the games were boring due to the fact Center Grove dominated most of their opponents, barring one our rivals to the north Carmel.
(Devon & Kelsey after a regular season game)
This saga started last year when we took an overtime game away from Carmel for an amazing, exciting win. Fast forward to this year, Sept. 3rd with 6,000 fans in attendance, unheard of for a H.S. game, Carmel came back in the last 45 seconds to win the game against us, it was the only lost the CG football team had for the season, setting the stage for last night's state championship against Carmel.
(Kelsey & Alex in the Suite)
We headed down to Lucas Oil Stadium (the Colts) for the game, Devon's dad had gotten us his company's suite, we came early to watch the other division games but come game-time we headed over to the regular seats, managing to secure 45 yard line lower seats for the game we were all ready. The stadium was 3/4 full of Center Grove kids, parents and community members having sold 6,600 pre-game tickets, we pride ourselves that we may not be a city, but we are a strong community.
The game started and Carmel pulled ahead, going into the 1/2 we scored but were still down, it wasn't looking good - it wasn't the CG team we had watched all season, there were mistakes and as with the Sept. 3rd game it didn't look like we could close down the Carmel quarterback. The Carmel fans were taunting us with their 'championship' signs and going into the 4th quarter it really didn't look good, I must admit I was praying for a miracle, I wanted this group of boys, especially the seniors and Devon to have this win.
And that's when those angels appeared, with 6 minutes left, our student's shouting 'We Believe' and the boys never giving up, though many of the fans had, they managed to overcome a 19 point deficit in the remaining 6 minutes of the game to win the State Championship and put Carmel in their place, we were overwhelmed. They are truly Champions.
It was a lot of firsts, first HS state championship to be played at Lucas Oil, largest crowd to attend a HS state game and the first football championship for Center Grove....I was so excited for the seniors, for Devon and for the community!
I called mom to tell her the news not knowing she had been watching the scores online, she had last checked with 8 minutes remaining and had conceded we had lost the game. She thought I was joking when I told her we had won, it took some convincing to get her to realize it. As they say, it ain't over until the fat lady sings....
We all went back to the HS to celebrate the win, at 12 midnight the school gymnasium was packed with kids & parents, the emotions were overwhelming. Here is Kelsey, Alex and Devon with his state medal around his neck and a wonderful close to his football career!
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