By now you’ve heard all the jokes. You’ve read about all of the ineptitude. You’ve probably wondered at times why either of these teams even bother playing football. Well stop wondering because they won’t care what you say. If they did, neither team would have any skin left to protect them from the rash of criticism and questions regarding why they actually still play. The day is here. It’s Strawberry Crest vs. Leto in the preps version of the battle for ‘who-doesn’t-get-to-be-winless-on-the-season’ Bowl.
The Strawberry Crest Chargers (0-6, 0-3) come into tonight’s game against Leto (0-7, 0-3) having been outscored by an average margin of 51-3. The Falcons of Leto aren’t fairing much better getting pounded by a 58-10 difference in their first seven games. The Chargers are in just their 3rd season of football and only their 2nd full season at the Varsity level. Leto on the other hand is one of Hillsborough County’s older programs in existence since 1965.
Leto from 1997-1999 went 6-4, 7-4 winning a district championship, and 8-4 finishing as runners-up. That’s the last time they even came remotely close to a winning season. Just in case you were wondering, it’s 2011. In that span of time Leto has gone 20-96 while gaining 2 victories by forfeit to give them an official record of 22-94. They’ve had three 0-10 seasons since 2000, and if they don’t win tonight it could be 4 winless seasons staring at 5 next year.
Strawberry Crest has gone 5-17 (officially 6-16 by virtue of a forfeit win over King last season) in its short lifespan. They were a very competitive team last year in a district with schools that were slightly smaller in size, giving them a little space to grow before hitting what must feel like playing in the NFL with their newly appointed district this season. Neither team in fact have any business being grouped with the likes of Armwood, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Sickles, or King. They are true victims of quirky redistricting policies.
So that’s what makes tonight’s event even larger as each team will actually line up with more than just a glimmer of hope. This is the one game this season that the Falcons and Chargers will believe they have a shot to win. You almost get the sense this game means just as much if not more to the teams and the rest of us anticipating it than say Armwood vs. Plant. It’s the antithesis of success. It’s almost symbolic of what the Tampa Bay Area is experiencing at the moment with its economy. This game represents programs struggling to make the best out of impossible situations. This game is about life.
There’s no need for any sort of Eric Mangini-esque breakdowns or Ron Jaworski dialing up some of his notes from countless hours of film study. Nope. None of that. Although Leto does have two players (Michael Serra and Andre Simpson) that have accounted for 1,260 of their 1,364 total yards on the season so that’s saying something.
What this game needs is some good old-fashioned perspective. The anticipation for this game on some levels is beyond comprehension. There’s a possibility that these two teams…these profoundly horrible two teams could give us the best game of the season. The best moments might not even make it to the papers, the videos, or the tape recorders in the postgame interviews. The best moments may be saved for pregame and postgame speeches from the coaches that must properly motivate and keep their kids focused. The best moments may come when a kid breaks off a 60+ yard run for a TD and looks so surprised that he’s there he doesn’t even know what to do in terms of celebrate.
These are the moments that make me love and appreciate high school sports even more. These are the reasons people are called to become teachers, police men and women, firefighters, and other civil servants. THIS is why we fight for our kids when people go after them. Because we can and want to. Everyone deserves some kind of spotlight even if it’s burned out as quick as it came on. For one brief moment in time (or approximately 2.5 hours) these kids will get to experience what it should be like instead of what the reality is.
No matter how cynical or negative our thoughts can become, there’s always this sort of reminder that it could be a lot worse and that this game is providing the escape (albeit brief) to a better time when competition was actual competition and the gap isn’t as extreme as it stands between these two and the rest of their opponents.
I’m assuming that if either team wants to win, it won’t come down to who’s got the better rushing attack or aerial assault. Nope. It comes down to doing whatever it is they’re doing as best as they can for four quarters. There will be moments in the game where neither team may not even recognize what’s going on until well after it’s happened. Pressure situations that will call for complete attention and flawless execution (which is kind of an oxymoron for both schools at the moment) will dictate the outcome.
I expect there to be plenty of scoring, but the Falcons seemed to have found the endzone slightly more times than the Chargers (although their margin of defeat may not reflect this). The Falcons also have a few athletes that when given the opportunity might just snatch it and never let the moment go. Tough to say what THEE defining moment will be, but I bet it will be obvious on the faces of those kids and coaches when it does happen whether good or bad. Here’s hoping we can learn a little more about ourselves and our tolerance for the bad as much as the good. Here’s to hope in general for these teams. Good luck gentlemen. We’ll be watching. Have fun.
PREDICTION: Leto 35 Strawberry Crest 28