Final Game a Winner

Once again, most of the activity during the day yesterday was all leading up to the big Friday night football game. We all had errands to run during the day - Josie and I to the fifth wheel and Patty to the store. Patty also had to work at the "fun fair" at school for a couple hours starting at 4:45 which meant that there was a good chance we would miss the start of the football game, which was being played at a field that was about 30 miles from here. We all (us and the twins) piled into her car at 4:30 and headed to the twins school in downtown Naperville. It was a huge event that was held inside the school and Josie and I walked around the downtown area while Patty put in her work time. Downtown Naperville is a beautiful place. We never get tired of walking around visiting all the nice shops:

and going down to the river that flows through town:

Patty was able to leave her work assignment early, so we left town at close to 7 PM for the game that started at 7:30. We arrived just in time to see the opening kickoff as we walked to our seats in the stadium.

This was the final game of the regular season for Austin's high school team, and they needed to win in order to have a share of the conference title. I thought that this was a team that wasn't suppose to be very good, but Mark reminded me that they averaged 50+ points in their first 5 games of the season but have lost their last 2 games. Uh Oh! It started out like it was going to be a close, hard fought game and stayed that way the whole game. Austin's team was leading 6 -3 at halftime, and it looked like it would be anybody's game to win. His team scored the only touchdown in the 1st half, and it was a result of a 20 yard pass play. Austin had a few good running plays to gain some yardage, but couldn't break loose from the other team's defense - until the 3rd quarter. Austin scored a touchdown on a 9 yard run and the team scored one more touchdown on a punt return to eventually win the game 20 - 13. Austin played well and the team now shares the conference title with another school.

I made some adjustments in my camera settings, but still couldn't find the right combination to take clear, action shots of Austin (#27) during the game. These are the best of what I was able to take during the game:

Of course, I am always able to get good shots of the bands that play at halftime:

It was a great game and we are all excited for Austin to do well in the playoffs. It has been a fun experience for us to go to Friday night high school football games again. It brought back memories. We will also be looking forward to hearing about Austin's progress in the future. He is 1 of only 2 sophomores on the team, and is clearly one of their best players right now.

Michael came home for the weekend to visit with some of his old buddies from high school so they partied here at the house until around 1:30 AM when Mark chased them all home. It was a long day, but a fun day.

Nothing is planned for today except the twins' football practice to get ready for their game tomorrow. That will be the last game we get to see before leaving on Monday. It sure has been great to see all the games while we have been here.
Until tomorrow...