A Night to Remember
The date was 3 December, 2005. As memories go, this was one moment in time that I will remember forever. While the date itself may fade from my memory, the events of that night and those that led up to it over the preceding week are just as fresh to me today as they were three years ago. I am sure that one day I will even tell my kids about it. It was on this particular night that Peach County High School, my high school, achieved the ultimate goal in athletics. We were crowned state football champions for the first time in our school’s history!
While the actual game was played on that particular night, the events that I will remember actually began the Saturday before. The semi-final games were being played at the Georgia Dome. My family and I were cheering for our team, but at the same time we didn’t know if we might be watching what could be our last football game of the season. The opponent was LaGrange and we just didn’t know if we were good enough to beat them. Somehow we ended up winning that game with the score of 35 to 17 and that meant we were going to be playing in the championship against Dougherty County. Everyone in the stands was cheering and air-horns were blowing. I knew that it was a big deal to have won the game, but I hadn’t realized just what had happened and what it would lead to at the moment.
The next week at school you could tell that things were different and that this would not be just a typical week. There was a change in how people acted and even in how they did their school work. All the football players were trying their hardest in all their classes so that they would have a chance to play in the game. The halls were covered with black and gold ribbons hanging from the ceiling tiles. Large paper banners covered the walls, some saying “Let’s go Trojans” and others saying “We can do it, bring it home Trojans”. Every day was filled with excitement and anticipation of the big game.
Finally, Friday had arrived and it was game day. That day at school I saw the biggest pep rally ever for a football game. The band was wearing their gold and black uniforms and their hats were black and had a feather on top. I could barely hear what my friend was telling me because the band was playing so loud and so strong. The excitement of the week had built up and everyone was totally psyched for the game. We couldn’t wait until it was game time. After the pep rally everyone went home to get ready to travel down to Dougherty County High School for the big game.
When I got home my parents had already started to pack up the car to get ready to leave. My mom had a big smile on her face and was almost as excited as me. She had graduated from Peach County High School many years before and was looking forward to seeing her team hopefully win a state championship. My dad was excited too, but was a little stressed from making sure everything was packed in the car. I went inside and was immediately greeted by the unmistakable and irresistible smell of Krystal sandwiches on the table. After everyone had finished eating we met up with my aunt who was riding with us and started our way down to the game which was being played at Dougherty’s home field in Albany, Ga. Much of my thoughts on the way down were on the game. I do, however, remember looking out the window as we passed someone’s land that had just been burned to clear out the old crops. The soil was black and every few spaces you would see bright green grass poking through the soil. About fifteen minutes after passing the fields we entered Dougherty County.
The whole day had been cold and wet as rain showers had moved through the area. By the time we had got to Albany it was already dark outside. I can remember my aunt saying to my dad, “Jim try to find the closest parking spot you can, this area doesn’t really look too safe”. We found a spot on an overcrowded street filled with every type of car. When I stepped outside the vehicle the cool crisp wind greeted my face and started to make my ears cold. But, I also could hear in the distance the sounds of the bands and see the lights from the stadium. My heart started to beat a little faster as the excitement of the moment was setting in.
After a short walk we reached the ticket gates going into the stadium where my mom said, “I hope we will be able to find some seats”. The stadium was old and was actually built down into a valley and very much like a bowl made of rock. We could hear the sounds of the fans already in the stadium, but we could not see anything because of the white concrete block walls that formed the outer areas of the stadium. About the only thing we could see was that on either end of the field there were rock walls about 60 feet tall.
We finally got our tickets and made our way into the stadium. Once there we could see that there were people everywhere. The stands were filled to capacity and there were still people coming in. Since I was just a freshman in high school, I had never seen so many people at a high school football game before. When we were standing outside the gates I couldn’t fully imagine the size of the stadium. I told my mom that there had to be over ten thousand people here. It almost felt like I was at a University of Georgia football game just on a smaller scale. My dad took off hurriedly looking for some seats and in a few minutes returned to us and said, “I have found some seats down near the field.”
When we finally squeezed through the crowd and reached our seats, that was when I could finally see what I had come to. It was going to be a very special night, if only we could win. The noise of the crowd only grew as game time approached. We could feel the spirit in the air when our football team stormed the field. The air temperature was not too cold, but just crisp enough to make it good football weather. The smell of hotdogs coming from the grills and the scent of warm apple cider coming from my mom’s thermos filled the air around me and made it feel that much more like a football game.
On the opposite side of the field we could see the tightly packed fans of our opponents dressed in blue and silver waiting for their team to enter the stadium. Even though it was a home game for them, I could easily tell that there were more people at the game from Peach County than there were of Dougherty. About five rows in front of us there were two men from Dougherty who thought it would be fun to sit on our side of the field. Through all of the pre-game activities they were standing up telling everyone around them how their team was going to win and how bad we were going to lose. I guess they thought that their team would win easily and that they could celebrate in front of us all night long. Needless to say, they were not welcomed at all by a large number of Peach County fans who were sitting around them.
Shortly after 7:30pm, the game finally got started. Our seats were next to the Peach County band so even when things weren’t going well the band always seemed to bring back the excitement. Our band was either playing or shouting something to the fans. The crisp night soon began to turn colder as the wind picked up. With the wind swirling through the stands, we sat there freezing our ears off to watch this wonderful football game. Luckily, my hands were now accompanied by a hot pouch which we all had in our jackets. Every once in awhile there was a man sitting down in front of us who would blow a duck caller and that sound would put a smile on everyone’s face.
For much of the first quarter the game remained very close. About five minutes into the second quarter it started to sprinkle but that didn’t make anyone move and give up their seat. We sat there with the cold light rain watching the back and forth game. Through the skill of our players, the score began to turn in our favor as our team took a ten point lead into halftime. The men in front of us had finally sat down and we were finally happy to watch the halftime show without someone yelling at us.
During halftime it was time for our impressive band to take the field and give a wonderful show. Peach County has long been known for its outstanding bands, but tonight they performed as never before and kept the excitement of our fans going. The other school’s band was good and their cheerleaders danced provocatively, turning many peoples’ heads on our side of the field. But like their football team, they couldn’t compete with the kids from Peach County.
After halftime the football game got back underway and everyone knew that the state championship would be settled in the next twenty-four minutes of football. Our team continued to play well and soon turned the ten point lead into a fourth quarter twenty point lead. The men in front of us finally got up and started to leave. While they were leaving, everyone within ten rows of them, including my family, started to sing “Na, Na, Hey, Hey, Goodbye” and at that time it finally hit me that we were, for the first time in our school’s history, going to win the championship. When the sound of the final buzzer went off, the stands erupted in celebration that was louder than ever, it was something I will never forget. The score was an amazing 35 to 14 victory. People were jumping up and down, giving hugs and high-fiving people that they didn’t even know. During the celebration, my mother had gotten a call from my granddad telling her that UGA had beaten LSU in the SEC Championship football game that same night which only made the night that much more exciting. My mother said to me, “I am so happy that both of the schools I attended won big games this very night!” No one cared at that moment how cold it was or how cold our ears and hands were. Everyone just knew that we did it! We won the championship. Everyone shouted, “We are the Trojans, the mighty, mighty Peach County Trojans!”
After the game we bought a championship car sticker from someone in the stands, got all of our game gear together and headed off to the nearest McDonalds to get some sweet tea and something to eat. On the way home no one could go to sleep because we couldn’t believe what our eyes had just seen. We honked our car’s horn every time we passed a school bus full of Peach County students and players. When we finally got home, I ran from the warmth of the car to the house to avoid the cold breeze outside. That weekend everyone could not stop talking about what had happened.
The Monday morning at school, after that marvelous Friday night, people were still talking and celebrating our victory. Before the morning announcements began, the office played the song “We are the Champions” throughout the whole school. What a moment that I will never forget! The next year’s football season was just as great as this one. We won the state championship again, but that is another story for another time. I am so glad that I can say I was at Peach County High School when we won our first ever state championship.
