Cross-town Showdown

We took our middle school ministry on the road tonight. Our local middle schools’ 8^th grade football teams squared off in a skirmish for the ages. We have several guys playing on either squad, and we thought it would be a great opportunity to support them and build a little community among the rest of the students.

The atmosphere was great! Park Forest had the 9^th grade cheerleaders show up, and held a pep rally to get the student body pumped up. Mount Nittany’s students borrowed a page from the Penn State crazies, declaring a white out (all the fans were encouraged to wear white to the game.)

The setting: historic Memorial Field. I believe that Park Forest’s record is better than Mount Nittany’s. They scrimmaged each other back in August, and Park Forest was clearly the stronger team. We learned that several of the Mount Nittany starters were either hurt or we being disciplined for in-school trouble, and would not play. Things looked bleak for the Mount Nittany squad.

Mount Nittany’s squad played better than expected. One of our guys made the opening tackle. The score was knotted at 0-0 for most of the game, until our own John Layton broke through a hole in the left side of the Mount Nittany line and lunged/dove into the end zone, dragging a would-be tackler with him. That would be the only score of the game.

There was some trash talking going on, as well as the all-too-familiar yelling at the referees (mostly by parents—great example, folks.) But the coolest thing I saw was after the final buzzer, when the players lined up at midfield to shake hands.

They realize that they are ultimately on the same team. Next year these football players will join forces to form the State High 9^th grade team (coached by our own Doug Arnold and Denny Rhule), and they know even now that they will be part of a greater unit. While they competed against each other tonight, they know that they will be working together in the near future to achieve a common goal.

I wish hope pray that our local student ministries can take that same attitude. I want us to see that we are on the same team, working toward a common goal. I would love to see us partnering to see the students of the Centre Region loved, nurtured, supported, and brought into the Kingdom of God.

It could happen...