Fan of the Year?...

The first game of the six-man football doubleheader I was shooting was Richland Springs playing Follett. Neither one of these teams are area teams. I was really only shooting it because it was a state championship game being played locally. Also I had to shoot a fan feature for a news story we were doing about the two games. It was just going to be easier to get photos shot from the afternoon game than to worry about pushing deadline with the later game.

The nice thing about shooting a game like this is I only really need one shot from the game and can concentrate on all of the other things going on like watching the crowd. Obviously when I walked on the field I could almost immediately tell who I would be shooting for the crowd story. When you see an old lady with a white and blue mohawk on and her face painted blue, you just can't ignore it! And since, I only really needed one action shot from the game I spent most of my time focusing on Ms. Superfan. The shot at the top was easily my favorite and I thought it captured the pure passion and fanaticism of many high school football fans in west Texas. It is not the photo we used for the news story though, I used a different photo of her that showed the crowd better as well.

After spending most of the first quarter shooting fans shots I decided to spend the rest of my time shooting the game. I love games like this since there is no pressure to shoot just one team or the other and I don't have a lot to worry about. I can take more chances and shoot from positions that may not be ideal because if I miss a shot or three it's not as big of a deal. I really only needed one shot for sports, if I had time or enough photos to do a slideshow that's just extra but there are no expectations. I ended up getting few nice photos plus my new favorite fan actually ended up making a nice gallery.

Another State Champ...

After getting in late from Arlington I covered the six-man state championship doubleheader. The night cap was the more important game for us, Throckmorton playing Abbott in a rematch of last year's state semifinal in Throckmorton's run to the state title. This year was a little different from last year, Throckmorton wasn't supposed to make it this far. But, after the beat-down they put on a very good Water Valley team a couple of weeks ago the Greyhounds were certainly playing like the defending state champions.

Having seen this team play three times already this year, I didn't have a lot of doubt that they would win the game. It was just going to be a question of whether they would 45 Abbott or not. The mercy rule win didn't happen but it was close with Throckmorton winning 72-30. Abbott, though, did come out looking tough and it looked for a little while like it may be a dog fight. But, Throckmorton's passing offense just couldn't be stopped. The Greyhounds were just throwing the ball at will and weren't going to be denied their second straight championship.

A Saturday Full of 6-man Game 2...

The second game of my Saturday full of six-man football was supposed to be a really good game between defending state champion Throckmorton and Water Valley, who was actually the favorite in this game. It was kind of cool since the game had a 6pm start time, which put it right around sunset. which allowed me to capture a really nice shot of the opening kickoff and coin toss.

The game was supposed to be a lot closer than the one I had shot a few miles down the road in Zephyr, but Throckmorton didn't seem to feel the same way. The Greyhounds came out looking like the defending state champs, taking the first play from scrimmage to the end zone for a touchdown. Now this isn't all that unusual in six-man football it is known for its high scores. But then Throckmorton was playing some really stiff defense. Water Valley did keep it close on the first couple of drives, but by the second quarter things really started to get out of hand quickly.

By the start of the second quarter it was just a matter of time before the game ended via the 45-point mercy rule. Water Valley came out and scored a touchdown and stalled one of Throckmorton's drives to prolong the game a little bit longer, but there was never any doubt who was going to come out on top in the game. Throckmorton ended up winning the game 62-16 late in the third quarter.

A Saturday Full of 6-man Game 1...

The weekend after Thanksgiving was kind of an odd week in that all of our 11-man football teams ended up playing on Friday and none had games to be played on Saturday. We did, however, have a few 6-man football teams playing. Abilene Christian High was playing its playoff game in Zephyr in the afternoon and defending state champion Throckmorton was playing just up the road in Early later that evening. It made for a nice road trip to cover a couple of teams we don't always get to cover very much.

The first game was Abilene Christian High School playing Bracken Christian. At the start it looked like it was going to be a pretty good game. Both teams traded a couple touchdowns, there each team had a few stops and it was looking like it would be pretty fun. Then after the first quarter ACHS took over and pulled away with things. By the second half the game was a blowout and it was just a matter of time before ACHS won by the 45-point mercy rule. That was just fine with me, that gave me time to edit my photos and get up the road to the next game on time.

Season Opener...

Last Thursday was the opening night of high school football in Texas. I've always kind of found it ironic that Friday Night Football always opens on Thursday. So, I got sent up to Jayton to shoot defending six-man state champion Throckmorton playing Rotan, who was playing in the school's first-ever six-man game. The game was supposed to be a 7:30 kickoff, but with the two previous games going long, the kickoff never happened until 9:30. Not good for deadlines!

So, with plenty of time to kill, since I got there at 7pm. I was able to type in both teams' rosters for code replacements then walk around looking for features before the game. One good thing about having been here so long is some of the great working relationships I've developed with the coaches. Throckmorton coach Mike Reed is a great guy and has always been helpful. So, it was nice to get such a great response when I asked to get some behind the scenes shots of players getting taped up before the game. He told me "Man, you've got VIP access, you can do whatever you want." So, I went and made the best of it, including probably my favorite photo of the night with the cowboy boots and shoulder pads, I can't think of better way to illustrate high school football in Texas.

When the game did finally start, Throckmorton wasted no time showing why it was the reigning king of six-man football, taking the opening play into the end zone for a touchdown. After the first quarter Throckmorton lead 44-8. Then Rotan started looking a lot better, but the game was never in doubt they won it 78-40. I ended up missing much of the third quarter because I had to edit and send photos. Which ended up being sent just before 11pm. I decided to stick around to the end of the game which didn't get over until almost midnight. After the 100 mile drive home and I put the slideshow together it was almost 5am when I finally got to bed... the first of many late nights, glad I love my job!

State Champs...

Saturday was the six-man state championship games, both the division I (big school) and division II games were being played in Abilene. Throckmorton was playing Borden County in the division I game. Last year, Throckmorton lost to Garden City in the championship game. This year Throckmorton had been tearing up the fields. Winning nearly every one of their games by the mercy rule.

Now, if you've never seen six-man football it's quite the experience. I think it was best summed up by a friend a couple of years ago when he compared it to college intramural football only higher scoring. It's not uncommon to see scores in the 70's and 80's or even as high as 100. The field is 80 yards long by 40 wide and with 10 less players than traditional football. Also, punts and field goals are almost non-existent. Going for it on fourth down is the norm more than a surprise. And while touchdowns are still worth six points, going for two requires kicking the extra point and running a play (running or passing) is only worth one point. Teams need to go 15 yards, not 10 for a first down, and onside kicks are a regular part of the game and not just kicked late in the game when a team begins to get desperate. Games can get so far out of hand that after halftime if a team goes up by 45 or more the game is over.

This was Throckmorton's third trip to the state championship game and second under coach Mike Reed. This was also Reed's fourth trip to state as a coach. All three of his previous trips were losses, so there were a lot of people pulling for him to finally "get over the hump." Reed's always been a good guy and has helped out every time I've had to do a story about one of his teams, he's one of those guys you can't help but want to see him win. From talking to a few of the parents on the sidelines the last two weeks, not only did they want to win state and see their kids win, the kids wanted it almost as much for their coach.

By six-man standards this was a really low scoring game ending "only" 48-36. It was in essence a defensive battle, even though it didn't start out looking like that. Borden County took the opening snap for a 70-yard touchdown. One great thing about six-man football, unlike its 11-man big brother, is I never fret about missing a touchdown because I know there will be another one soon enough. After that it was all Throckmorton for the rest of the first quarter. The Greyhounds scored 32 straight points to take a pretty commanding lead. It was looking like it would be another 45 for them.

Then in the second half Borden County came out swinging. It's funny, with all the offense in this game no score is ever safe. Borden County came back playing really good defense and pounding the ball out on the ground. With less than 2 minutes left Borden County had closed the gap to 40-36. Throckmorton had the ball and was driving, trying to kill the clock. On 4th-and-1 with less than a minute left and no timeouts the greyhounds line up to go for it (no surprise)... and false started. After the 5-yard penalty on 4th-and-six Throckmorton snaps the ball the defense blitzes and the Throckmorton quarterback threw an ugly knuckle ball looking pass right to a receiver who took it for a 40-yard touchdown.

After recovering a short squib kick with under a minute left in the game it was just a matter of lining up in the victory formation and this one was in the books. It was a really exhilarating game and a lot of fun to watch. Hopefully the next three that I cover in the 11-man state championships next week can compare. It also helped that everything seemed to work, I was really happy with what I shot, both action and reaction.