Let the record show that Monday Night Football came to DMPS on October 1, 2018, for all of two minutes and fifteen seconds.
Timeout was called at Hoover’s McGrane Stadium on September 7th with no more than that remaining on the clock. The Huskies had the ball on the North 36 yard line, 4th & 6, leading by three points, on the verge of a hard fought homecoming victory.
Then shots rang out in a city parking lot near the stadium. Common sense dictated suspension of the game. Both teams, and schools, were on the same side in that call – the safe one.
Since then, summer turned to fall. Trees peeking above the west grandstand are showing their colors. Three weeks and three days after the opening kickoff, the two teams, both still winless, returned to a spongy, shaggy, soggy field to finish their unfinished business.
The game resumed at 6:00 PM. It was over by 6:09, without benefit of cheerleaders or bands or many fans in the stands. But not without some drama.
Hoover punted to the Polar Bears, who took over on their own 13 with less than two minutes on the clock and no timeouts. They marched methodically as far as the Huskies’ 34 yard line before running out of downs and time.
The final, or finally, score was 21-18. The game was either the longest or the shortest one of the season, depending on how, and when, you looked at it. In either case, it was a testament to the students and coaches for finishing what they started and refusing to let a random act of violence define them or their schools.
Let the record also show that, the scoreboard notwithstanding, neither team is winless anymore.
