There were several familiar faces in the crowd. Chris and Kim sat where they could greet fans as they entered. Later Will's former teammate Christian joined them. I first sat with Living Science/Flight Basketball dad and Facebook friend Jeff, who confessed to reading my blog. Like Will, his 22 year old daughter majored in biology and is engaged to be married. Her fiancé is in medical school. After graduation the couple will return to Kenya, where they met. It was good catching up with Jeff. We also talked a little football. He goes to all the Clemson home games. Jeff's friend is a surgeon in the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine, which may help Will secure a job in January.
I had walked in behind several somersaulting middle school coeds. One brought up popular comedian Jim Gaffigan, and my ears perked up. She launched into one of his routines, and my ears perked up even more when she slipped in a slightly off-color three-letter word. Come to think of it, there wasn't anything slightly about it, though the word is in the Bible in a different context. What had I gotten myself into?
Ceil and Matthew and Regina and MC's grandparents arrived. When Regina and Ceil moved I chatted with my kindred soul Carolyn Gilbert. She opened our conversation by saying how she's loved a recent joke. The elder Gilberts raised their boys at Peachtree Presbyterian, and we determined she was in a weekly Bible Study with my Aunt Martha. My grandmother's name was familiar to her. Her husband Walter attended North Fulton High just four years behind my mother. Carolyn marveled at a man sitting nearby, watching the game while busying himself inexplicably writing thank-you notes, ala Jimmy Fallon.
The game had most of the trappings of a real high school game. The Saints marching band lined up before the game, performed at halftime, and led the fans in cheers - including the always famous "Hey!" song. During the halftime show I was talking to Carolyn, and a band parent shushed me for talking over the music. Like I said, just like a real high school game.
The game finally kicked off at 7:30, and I focused on young Thomas. Covering the kick when the return man veered right Thomas wisely did likewise - where he was blocked in the back not once but twice, as the return man dashed down the far sideline into the end zone. No call. Then on North Georgia's second offensive play the receiver quite obviously pushed off. No call. Jeff noticed the same thing. So it was going to be one of those games. The rival Falcons already had the size and speed advantage, and evidently they would take advantage of the novice referees as well. The first 14 seconds of the game took ten minutes to play, and the pace only picked up slightly from there.
With the young backup quarterback making his first start the Saints mostly stuck to the ground. The big bad Saints lacked good tackling fundamentals. Taking a que from the college and pro players they see on TV, the Falcons would swing ballcarriers around and fling them to the ground. One big linebacker looked like a football player but rarely hit anyone. In fact when a tiny Saint defensive back smashed into a big Falcon receiver at the same time the ball arrived, the Falcon was knocked out of the game. When the Saints did throw several passes right in the receiver's hands were inexplicably dropped. Several times Saint receivers misjudged long passes and stopped, only to have the ball sail over their head. Some of the best gains came on scrambles by the quarterback, though the stadium held their breath each time to make sure the signal-caller survived the tackle.
After a JFCA punt the Falcons went for it on fourth down, perhaps not only because of confidence in the defense but also due to a lack of a good punter. On North Georgia's second possession the receiver was flagged for pushing off. Thomas was making plays on defense: making tackles and grabbing ankles and breaking up passes. When one near interception bounced high into the air another Saint defender caught the deflection and raced downfield with the interception. A defensive pass interference penalty on fourth and goal gave Johnson Ferry four more tries, but they failed on what turned out to be their best chance of the evening.
A Falcon pass was thrown right at a tiny Saint defender, who tried to make an ole type catch instead of getting his body in front of the ball. He missed. The ball went right through his hands into the waiting arms of a Falcon receiver. Touchdown. While the smaller Saints were able to hold the North Georgia ground game in check for the most part, the infrequent Falcon touchdowns were mostly one on one matchups where bigger and stronger beat smaller and weaker. North Georgia would surely have trouble running up against a team close to their own size.
We saw several familiar faces in addition to the Gilberts, Maioccos, and Smiths. After the game I spoke at length with Brett. Our families are in the same boat with multiple college students and aging high-mileage cars. He's got it worse than me. Matthew found several friends to hang with. As usual we were among the last to leave. I had come straight from work, and the 16 hour day had worn me down.
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