Football Update: THS Senior Night and Homecoming at Huntgindon

You didn't think I'd make it through and entire football season without a post, did you really? But seriously, things have been crazy super busy (in a good way!) around here lately.  I had not one but two grants get funded at work (yay!), plus dance has started back up, and I had forgotten how much energy puppies have [so so so much energy to burn off every day!], so unfortunately this little blog has taken a back seat for a bit. However, I am here today so let's get to it!

Football is still going strong for us.  We started off the season 4-0, but hit a giant bump in the road on week 5 after a rough game and some injuries and have since gone 1-3.  We have a must-win game this weekend against a very good team to get into the playoffs, so be thinking happy purple and gold thoughts for us on Friday please!

Senior Night was this past week....yes already...and with it came all of the Senior Night activities.  Eric escorted one of his D-Linemen onto the field again this year, which is quite an honor.  Each student gets to pick a teacher or coach who has meant a lot to them over their high school career, so it's pretty special.  Eric coached this particular kid to a couple of state appearances/championships in wrestling in addition to football.

R to L: 1) Escorting his D-Lineman (64) on the field to his family.  2) Coach Cagle doing his thing...he's the little white dot in the middle of the clump of purple and gold. 3) The team came back out of the locker room to watch the band perform their halftime show after the game.  It has been a great show this year, complete with majorettes juggling batons (I am still super impressed at this) and the entire band dancing through part of the show.  

As much as I would have loved to stick around for the reception for the seniors and their families after the game, we packed up and headed home because we had some friends from college heading to our house to stay with us for the weekend because it was Homecoming at Huntingdon! It's only one of my most favorite weekends of the year!

This one was a little out of the ordinary for us, but we had a blast!  Why was it out of the ordinary?  Well because Eric was skipping out on the game this year for a fishing tournament. He finished a respectable 4th place in the tournament, and made it to Montgomery shortly after the game ended to hang out with everyone.

I on the other hand had no desire to miss out on any of it.  One of my teammates was being inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame, so I walked the pups, whipped up a quick breakfast for out guests, got ready, and told our friends I'd meet them at the game.  Host of the year right here.

I made it to the ceremony with about a minute to spare and got to see her accept her award!  She's the second women's basketball player to receive this honor in the NCAA era (which started my freshman year in 2003).

Some of the oldies (front row) with the current team after L-Bo's induction ceremony.

After the ceremony we headed over to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants from our college days and met up with a few more of my old teammates. There were several girls there this year who I had not seen since our wedding so seeing them all after 6 years was awesome!

Parts of my Lady Hawk Family.  I'd like to point out that in the picture on the left I am the Senior....all of these girls graduated after I did.  In the picture on the right I am the freshman....these girls made me want to be a part of their family and taught me so much over the years! 

We made it back to the school just before kickoff and I headed over to the football tents to mingle with all of those friends who I see once a year at the game...and answer the question, "Where's Cagle [Eric]?" about 4,000 times. Needless to say not a single person was shocked when I said he was fishing, and were glad when I assured them he'd be there later.

The wives (and some future Hawks). I feel like these girls are as much a part of my HC family as anyone even through most of them didn't go to school there.  

Huntingdon won big 48-27 and we all headed back to the one couple who still lives near the school's house to watch the end of the UT/Texas A&M game (ugh) and the Alabama/Arkansas game.  To be honest there was not a ton of game-watching going on.  There was significantly more telling old stories and laughing and just soaking up the moment with people that I miss like crazy all year long and am so thankful that I get to call my friends.

At the Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony that morning Coach Turk (the AD and head football coach) said something to the current student athletes in the audience that really stuck a chord with me.  He said that once it's all said and done and your career is just a memory, you may remember bits and pieces of the games, but the times that will stick out in your mind are the times in between the games: the 5AM practices, the road trips, the tough times you went through with the help of your teammates, the dinners in the dining hall, and just random nights in the dorms.  He said that those things that you will really cherish and when you come back years later and see your old teammates, those are the times you'll recall and laugh about. I found myself nodding along and knowing that the girls currently on the team who were all sitting behind me at the ceremony had no idea how special what they are a part of right now will become in their lives, and how lucky I am to have a family of Lady Hawks that I can always lean on.