Religious Experience???

If small town football is like a religion, then playoff football in those small towns is the equivalent of a weekend tent revival. Recently, I was dispatched to Andale to shoot their first playoff game versus Concordia. Driving west on 53rd street, as soon as I got past Colwich, I could see the glow of stadium lights from more than 5 miles away. In addition to the halo of light over Andale, I could also see red brake lights for miles ahead, as the cars all headed to the same place.

This scene is repeated every week in small towns across Kansas, and I truly believe it’s one of the best parts of Kansas life. These towns thrive off their teams, and live or die with their success or failure every week.

Another interesting tid-bit I came away with from the Andale game is the lack of males in the student section. The Indians have more than 100 kids out for football, which is pretty impressive considering they are a 4A school. It seemed that every kid was either out for the band, or on the football team. (It makes me wonder if the one boy in the student section full of girls knows something the rest don’t!)

After leaving Andale highly impressed with the atmosphere, I was looking forward to heading to Rose Hill on Saturday for their second round game versus Abilene; and I left just as impressed. I’ve been to both Rose Hill and Andale before for games, but not for the playoffs. The Rose Hill band was in rare form on Saturday. It seemed every time I looked up, the drum line was playing a beat, and the entire band was dancing in unison. It was great to see students and the band truly engaged in the game and not just at the game to be social.

Both teams are capable of winning state, and if they both win this weekend (which is certainly not a guarantee), they will face off in the state semi-finals next weekend. No matter which school hosts the game, it’s one I hope to be at, and I’m sure both towns would be there as well, especially the one boy in the Andale student section.