Friday Night Football

What makes high school football so special?

For those who are fans, no explanation is needed. It’s easy to forget, however, that some people don’t quite share our enthusiasm for this American pastime. “What’s so great about it?” is something I have been asked. Some have even been more direct by declaring “Who cares.”

With a new season well underway, perhaps it’s a good time to share a few insights into what makes high school football such a unique slice of Americana.

•It’s about getting to the stadium early and seeing the fans slowly file in.

•It’s about the parents and volunteers and booster club members who cook the hamburgers and hot dogs and work in the concession stands raising needed funds.

•It’s about the bands, dressed in colorful uniforms. Band members work all summer in preparation for the new season as well. Their performance at halftime is also worthy of being in attendance.

•It’s about seeing the players emerge from the locker room to begin pregame warm-ups.

•It’s about the hot nights in the early part of the season, the cool evenings in the middle and the cold nights by the late part of the schedule.

•It’s about the anticipation all week of Friday night’s game. Can we stop this week’s opponent? Can we slow down their star running back? Will we be able to move the football against their defense?

•It’s about seeing the fields painted in bright colors signifying the home teams. Red. Blue. White. Orange. Yellow. All of these colors jumping off the green playing surface with eye-catching vividness.

•It’s about the cheerleaders holding the run-through sign and the players sprinting onto the field for the start of another game.

•It’s about songs like Kenny Chesney’s “The Boys of Fall,” which probably describes high school football as well anything ever put to music.

•It’s about the underdog, trying to score a victory that means so much to the players, coaches, fans and entire community.

•It’s about trying to put together one final drive that will win the game for your team.

•It’s about the tradition of fathers who once played seeing their sons now play on the same field a generation later.

•It’s about road trips to state playoff games and hoping your team can survive to play one more week.

•It’s about the game referees who, despite often catching tons of heat, are on the field because they enjoy the game as well.

•It’s about the fact that each season brings renewed hope that this year could be the year.

•It’s about high school football dynasties and being in awe of how long they have been successful.

•It’s about looking at the stat leaders and seeing how many players from your team are listed.

•In the end, it’s simply about being part of the team and having a strong sense of community pride in seeing student-athletes excel at something.

The 2015 high school football season locally has been underway for several weeks now. Both the Piedmont Academy Cougars and Monticello High School Purple Hurricanes have a handful of games under their belts for the new season.

Here’s hoping each of you take the time to support our local student-athletes and do whatever you can to support them. High school football is a staple of small town USA and that is certainly true on Friday nights in Monticello, just as it has been for decades and generations. I’ve covered the sport as a journalist for more than 25 years and have been going to games on Friday nights much longer than that. It’s something I doubt I will ever grow tired of.

Monticello native Chris Bridges is editor of the Barrow Journal in Winder. He welcomes feedback from readers of The Monticello News at pchrisbridges@gmail.com.