Try to wrap your mind around this

I have been attending high school football games since I was in high school. I've seen good games, bad games, and "why didn't I stay home" games.

And then I saw the one last night.

There aren't many high schools in our county. So, news affecting one school are generally known by the others. There was a bad/dumb accident at the beginning of this school year. A boy from another school was drinking, lost control of his car and hit a car driven by one of our boys. Everyone in the car with our students was injured except for one young passenger who was killed.

The boy (I will call him Blake) was a football player, a good student, someone no one had anything negative to say anything about, so it was very difficult for our school to deal with. Our team has not played well this year, missing Blake, but they have persevered.

Last night we were the visitors at an older school in the county, and one of our main rivals.

When the game was about to begin, the cheerleaders of the rival school brought out the banner that the team was to run through. It said "We play with angels" and was colored with our colors, our mascot, and Blake's football number.

When the rival team came on the field to run through the banner, they walked in respectfully and walked around the banner, not breaking it. The banner was then rolled up and presented to our coach.

They beat us. But that score will be forgotten long before the players and attendees forget this gesture.

I don't know the place that football holds in other places in this country. Down here, it is close to a religion. And last night was one of the finer moments of this game.