In Football Veritas

I'm drinking coffee at Cups in Fondren. It's a Friday night. There is Truth in Football. And they played at Smith-Wills tonight. The first football game ever at Smith-Wills.

Smith-Wills' football setup is like so. Visualize the baseball field. The first base baseline is the "home" sideline. The third base baseline is the 5-yard line. There are goalposts in right field in front of the fence-- a good kick can clear the fences-- and in front of the the third-base bleachers.

Nearly everyone attending the game watched the game from the first-base bleachers. Some watched from the grandstand.

I was at the Sylva-Bay Academy - Veritas game. I like to see schools from my home area play when they're in the Jackson area when possible. This week, it was an MPSA Academy A game. Next week, it'll likely be Wayne County at Madison Central.

I've helped my friends out for years by writing some season previews for them. I did the season previews for all the Academy schools this year. I also do the game previews for them. I made it to the game shortly before kickoff.

I know one of the assistant coaches for Sylva-Bay. He played high school ball at Bay Springs and later at Ole Miss-- a real good athlete. I know his younger brothers a little bit better, but we know each other. We chatted for a while at halftime. He seems to be doing well, which is good.

The Saints (that's Sylva-Bay) scored often in this game. They scored a couple TDs in the first quarter-- one running and one on a long pass play-- and another rushing TD in the second. It's 20-0 at halftime & it's 8:45... A long, long game it looks to be...

I go to the concession stand. I order a cheeseburger and a Pepsi. I'm tempted to order a coke to see if the volunteer says "No Coke. Pepsi." A youngish African-American guy asks me if I work at my college. And I say that I do. I don't recognize him. I've seen many students during my relatively short tenure at the college. I introduce myself and ask his name. We chat. He seems to be doing well, which is good. It's always good to see students who seem to be doing well for themselves. And I hope he does.

The third quarter. The Saints score twice more on running plays. The Lions (that's as you might expect, Veritas) score on a long pass play. It's 32-6.

The fourth quarter. It's 9:40. The Saints score twice more-- again on running plays. All pretty similar plays. It's obvious that Sylva-Bay doesn't want to show too much.

Their next two games are their two most important games against Wayne Academy and Heidelberg Academy-- both teams have traditionally dominated the district. Two teams advance to the playoffs. And in the Clarion-Ledger coaches poll, Wayne was picked first, the Saints, second, and Heidelberg, third. If the Saints win both games, they will likely win their district. If they lose both, they will likely not make the playoffs.

Final score. 9:55 pm. Sylva-Bay 44, Veritas 6.

Walking across the diamond to the first base dugout, I turn to say goodbye to Sylva-Bay's assistant coach & I see he's talking to Chip Pickering. When she was growing up, my mother lived near Judge Pickering in Jones County. And when I worked at the public library in Laurel, one of Chip's sisters frequently used the library.

Chip remembers me. One of his sons plays for Veritas-- a freshman lineman. We chat briefly. He asks what I'm up to. I tell him about my library and writing work. I'll call my mother tomorrow morning and mention that I ran into Chip at the game.

I'm almost done with my coffee. I'm heading to Don's.