Raider Football - State Quarterfinals

So the Raiders made the State tournament in Football this year, second time in three years.  Kieran was giving me a hard time, saying that this is the second time (in his 10 years) that he's seen a team go to state, while I've only seen four state quarterfinal games (in my 39 years...though the actual total is six).  He says his average is better....a state game every five years of his life versus a state game every seven years of my life --- what he doesn't realize is that it's really tough getting to state.

This year the Raiders played Maple River (who they lost to 47-0 earlier in the year) at Shakopee.  The field in Shakopee is a little different than what we're used to in Norwood - turf with a fantastic video scoreboard...must be how the other half lives...

The kids and I went with Craig...and it got cold that night, into the mid-30s...

The Raiders had their opportunities, their first drive started inside the 20 and they didn't get any points, but they played Maple River close...

It was 12-0 Maple River early in the 4th quarter, before the Raiders scored a touchdown to bring it to 12-7...

A couple of key stops by the Raiders forced Maple River to punt with about a minute left...the Raider returner took the punt over 50 yards to bring it inside the 20 yard line again...the Raiders had 4 plays inside the twenty to try for the win...but they couldn't do it...they lost 12-7, not bad considering how the game went earlier in the season.

We even made the homily at St. Bernards the following Sunday....we bumped into Father Gregory at the game, his homily was about great moments (vacations, births, etc) in life versus granular moments (the every day things).  He used the four of us as and example of granular moments....a dad with his kids out enjoying the night.

But I don't take the kids to football games for that...all three of them have a sense of their 'school' and will root for them no matter what, Kieran especially.  It's fun for me to see them care for a team and want them to win (out of 11 games this year, we went to 9).  The granular moments I like the best are the nightly dinners discussing their days, working with them on their homework, reading at night with them, etc.  The list gets pretty long of the small things I enjoy...wouldn't trade it for anything...