A couple of weeks ago, Santiago had their varsity homecoming football game. Going into the game, they were confident that they would come out with a win.  They had been practicing super hard all week and preparing themselves for the game.  This was a big game for the players because it is homecoming, and there will be a lot of people present supporting them so they had to give the crowd a good game worth watching.  Having confidence is a good thing, but if you get too cocky and think you don’t have to play as hard because the opposing team might not be so good, that’s where things go downhill.  This is where Santiago struggled.  Palm Desert didn’t look like a great team on film so Santiago was expecting an easy win.

To start off, Santiago starts off on defense.  If they have the choice, they usually start on defense because that is what their coach prefers.  They start off pretty good, limiting the number of yards Palm Desert is getting.  Then, the QB (Quarterback) of Palm Desert throws a 40-yard pass that is INTERCEPTED by #13 Brendan Gargalis on the Sharks.  However, this play didn’t count because the referee called a pass interference call on #23.  This call was invalid because he wasn’t near the guy so how could he have interfered!?  This interception not counting hurt Santiago more than they realized.

A few plays later, after Palm Desert drove down the field, they score on a running play. The score is now 7-0 with Palm Desert in the lead in the first quarter.  After Santiago gets stopped in 4 consecutive plays, Palm Desert has the ball again and they drive down the field and score again. It is now in the 2nd quarter and Santiago has the ball. Dominic Tubbs, QB (quarterback) for Santiago, throws a pass that gets intercepted by Palm Deserts’ defense and they return it to the 5-yard line. Santiago’s defense isn’t able to stop them, so Pam desert ends up scoring another touchdown. The score is now 14-0 in the middle of the 2nd quarter. Just before the end of the first half,  Santiago is forced to punt so Palm Desert yet again has another chance to score.  They start off with the ball on Santiago’s 40-yard line.  With 2 minutes till halftime, they are able to kick a field goal, and now the score is 17-0 going into halftime.

If Santiago wants to win they’re going to have to make some changes to their game plan and toughen up.  Coming out of the half, Santiago starts with the ball.  They are fired up because they need to come back and win this game. They are able to get to the 10-yard line but can’t quite get to the endzone.  They decide to go for a field goal, but they miss.  The score is still 17-0.  The opposing team drives down the field all the way to the 30, but this time the Sharks are able to stop them before they scored.   Santiago now has the ball and Tubbs throws a deep ball to #2 Bryce Parker and he makes an amazing one-handed catch to get them into the scoring range. A few plays later, Santiago scores on a running play up the middle of the field. After a long hard fight from both teams, the final score is 17-7 with Palm Desert as the winner.