The Worst Homecoming Imaginable

All week I have been looking forward to my high school's homecoming game and dance on Friday night. My boyfriend was on the homecoming court, I love football as you already know, and I also love to dance with my friends. You would think this was going to be an awesome night, right? Wrong. I promise that even though this blog is going to read out like a bad teen movie, it is really the story of Turkey Valley's 2011 Homecoming from Hell. The day started out promising. Classes flew by, I packed up my stuff, and headed for the booming metropolis of Lawler, Iowa, population of about 500. Pulling up to Brady's house, I was excited to see cars belonging to members of the "old gang." We always used to get together at Brady's house before football and basketball games, and his mom Janel, an angel on earth, would feed us and check on how each of us was doing. (It is one of my goals in life to grow up to be just like Janel Kuennen!) It was great to be back among people I've known almost all my life. After our get-together at the Kuennen's, we all headed to the game. The first half went well. We were up 22-14 at halftime, but the good times ended shortly after. At the end of a third quarter, one of our players went down hard. He was taken by ambulance for a concussion. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, my boyfriend, Jordan, didn't get up from the pile after being tackled on a long run. Every time he gets hit and doesn't get back up, my heart sinks. Jordan couldn't walk, so they carried him off the field and set him on the bench. I barely noticed that we scored again. All my attention was focused on the trainer furiously working on Jordan's leg. By the middle of the fourth quarter, our opponent, Bellevue, made a touchdown and the 2 point conversion, and the score changed to 28-22. The ball was in our possession, but our quarterback threw an interception, and another one of our players went down with an ankle injury. With 3 of our starters out of the game, Bellevue made a touchdown with less than 30 seconds on the clock. The score was tied 28-28, and they still had the chance for the extra point. Their kick was good. We couldn't make a comeback in the 5 seconds left of the game, and we lost our homecoming game by 1 point. When I got to sidelines after the game, all the seniors were crying. Jordan was still on the bench. The trainer said he needed to go get x-rays of his leg right away to make sure it wasn't broken. Jordan was inconsolable; if he had a fracture, he'd be out for the rest of the season. Brady and another guy carried Jordan up to the school and into the locker room. It was obvious we were going to miss the dance and the homecoming court's grand march. Instead, we headed to the emergency room in Decorah, and waited while Jordan got x-rays. Thankfully, they didn't find a fracture, and he only ended up with a bone bruise. It was still definitely the worst homecoming ever. Three players were injured, and two ended up in the ER. Jordan had to sit on the sidelines and watch his team lose by one point with 5 seconds left, completely helpless. We missed the dance, and he missed his entrance as a member of the homecoming court and almost lost his football season. The only good thing was that Jordan didn't break his leg. Even so, last night's game was still the homecoming from hell.