I originally said that I wasn't going to go back and try to catch up at all on the blog, but I thought I would do just one, a look back at Wolfpack Football 2012. This season was special for 2 reasons: it was Stephen's first as a varsity coach and the Wolves made school history with a very deep playoff run! Stephen has been coaching in Plano ISD since the 2006-2007. He started coaching 7th grade football, then 8th grade football, then 10th grade football...all at Plano West feeder schools. As spring football was set to begin in 2012, he called me on the way home from practice one day and said "Are you ready to be a varsity coach's wife?!?" He was getting moved up!!! The hard part was, the coach who has leaving hadn't made it 'official' yet, so we couldn't tell anyone, not players, parents, just our family knew! It was tough, but over the summer everything was made official and we were VERY excited to begin the 2012-2013 footbal season. Local newspapers didn't pick us to do very well, most didn't pick us to make the playoffs, but everyone at West had a feeling this year was going to be different.
Watching the game close up during Spring ball.
The first 'game' of the fall is always a scrimmage. The Wolves played Highland Park...no one officially keeps score, but if they did, the Wolves won.
After a game, Jake always wanted to wait up for Daddy. I would set up his napmat on the couch and stay up if Stephen knew he would be home at a somewhat decent time.
Stephen also coaches JV football at West, which means we have games Thursday and Friday nights. Jake loves going to the games, this was really the first year that he understood the game a little bit; that there was offense, defense, etc. He can sit through a game, no proble, stays awake the whole way home...which is usually around midnight, and is still wide awake then!
JV football
That's Stephen with the defensive tackles in the endzone, warming up before the game.
Happy boy!
This was the first Varsity home game of the season, and Stephen's first home game as a varsity coach. The Wolves played Flower Mound Marcus HS.
Here come the wolves!
That's Stephen with his hand on his headset, ready for kick off.
He has been on the sideline on the Wolves games for 6 years now, but this time he got to wear a headset.
The first few football games of the year are just miserable, it is still so hot! We usually stopped for lemonade or sweet tea on the way to the game.
Cowbells!
Stephen is in the middle, on the right.
4th quarter: 4's up!
Wolves Win! Stephen's first varsity win :)
Jake's favorite part of every game is heading down to the sidelines at the end of the game. He knows when the clock says 0:00, he gets to see Daddy! Wolves up!
Family pic after the first win: remember it was ridiculously hot so we've all been out in the heat sweating for about 4 hours at this point...it's not our most glamous family pic :)
These were two of my favorite pics of the entire season.We always waited for Stephen outside the locker room after the game, Jake was always so proud of his Daddy!
I took this picture during Plano West's by week (off week) Jake and Daddy taking a Sunday afternoon nap together.
4th quarter, 4's up!
The Wolves won big that night.
These pics are from a pre-district game vs Lake Highlands. It was probably the nastiest game we played all year. Our starting quarterback was out with an ankle sprain, but we still made a game of it. The referees were HORRIBLE in this game, I mean AWFUL! They called back two of our touchdowns and let a lot of dirty play happen on the field. We wound up losing, but clearly it was a team we should have beaten. And then after the game, all the sprinklers started going off, only on the visitor side, so all the fans and players got soaked. Tensions were already so high, that several dads from both sides almost got into a physical altercation. The one nice thing about the game, was their stadium allowed me to get some really close up shots of Stephen on the sidelines.
It's blurry, but that's our coach :)
Firing up the D-line!
Stephen and Tucker #48...he has coached Tucker since the 7th grade.
NOT a happy camper, his headset wouldn't work!
Stephen and Stefan #62
The D-line getting a talkin' to by Coach Tyler and Coach Low
Stephen and J-Hall (Jordan) #46
There's Jake's favorite player, #73, Ejoo! He was injured and didn't get to play for the first games of the season.
There's MY Daddy!
Way to go J-Hall!
The shirt I made Jake for football season.
Stephen is in the middle
4th quarter: 4's up...the game was still very close!
Stephen with Josh #52 and Stefan #62...he has coached Josh since middle school as well. That is Derrick #19, an amazing football player who was unable to play this season due to a medical condition. He was on the sideline for every game!
The Defense, firing themselves up to go in and get a big stop!
These are some of my favorite shots of the season. On JV nights, Jake could go out and join the team huddle after the game. He loved it!
One of our favorite things about the season was the send off at West before each game. I am so thankful to be off on Fridays this year. Jake and I would head up to the school about 4:15 every Friday and line up with all the cheerleaders, drill team, parents, and other coach's families. Jake loved to give the boys a big high-5, hug Daddy, and wave as the buses left for the stadium.
Rubbing the wolf for luck.
This year a new tradition was started, a Homecoming Parade followed by a pep rally in the indoor practice facility (SAC)
Jake was in heaven, a Wolfpack Parade!
The band lead the way
It's hard to tell, but Jake is "conducting" as the band passes by.
The homecoming court passing by, that's Big Zach. He was talking to Jake, but I missed the picture!
Jake got to walk the rest of the way with Daddy after he passed us.
There they go...Stephen is trying to tell me where to meet up with them after the parade.
Players float
Hanging out at the pep rally. This is Braden Keeter, Stephen taught him as well as his older sister in midle school. (We also used to go to church with their family) He is one of the biggest football suporters in the stands, leading the whole student section each week. #10 in the background is T.K. (Travis Korrey) the quarterback. He was Stephen's 8th grade B-team quarterback, back in middle school. In fact, Stephen is the one who moved him to quarterback in the first place. They are both wonderful young men!
Daddy and Jake
Wolves up with Daddy and Coach Mac
He had to have a picture with Ejoo.
Our friends, the Owen family, joined us for one of the games this year. Jake had a lot of fun playing with his friend, Carter, during the game.
Jake drew this picture for Ejoo during the season. It was a big deal because it was the first person Jake had ever drawn! It was hard for me to give away the picture, but Ejoo says he still has it, so I'm glad I did :)
These next series of pictures are from the next to last game of the season, against our city rival Plano. This game was a MUST win for us to make the playoffs. We played an amazing game, it was back and forth all night, but in the end, WOLVES WIN! It was a HUGE win for us and the boys and the fans went nuts!
Playing with the Mercer girls on the sidelines the last few minutes of the game. (Coach Mercer is the offensive coordinator and Jake loves his 2 daughters, Avery and Adyson.)
Watching the last play of the game!
Celebrating the win with their fans!
Daddy and Jake after the game.
It was extra crowded outside of the locker room that night.
Telling Ejoo 'Good Job' after the game. He is so sweet to Jake, he ALWAYS comes to talk to Jake after every game, win or lose.
Jake at the last send off of the season (for distict play) He INSISTED on wearing his socks "like a football player."
The last game of the season was Senior Night. All of the seniors lined up to walk out for the coin toss.
Because of a crazy 3 way tie in our district, we still had to win this last game in order to guarantee ourselves a play of spot. We were playing Plano East, another cross town rival. It was close for a little bit, but in the end it was another win for the Wolves and we were headed to the playoffs!
Happy boys!
Talking with Ejoo and Chase after the game.
Since it was the last home game for the boys, no one was in a hurry to leave the field after the game. Jake decided it was a good time to tackle Daddy.
A big hug from Oshen...almost every picture I have of Jake and Oshen is blurry because he would come swoop Jake up and spin him around so fast after the games.
So the Wolves were off to the playoffs. West had made the playoffs several times since Stephen started coaching in Plano ISD, but had always been one and done. In school history, they had only made it to the second round of playoffs once before. As luck would have it, we drew Lake Highlands in the first round...remember, this was the nasty game from our pre-district play. Needless to say, there was a lot of trash talking leading up to this game. We would have our starting quarterback T.K. and were looking for some payback for a game many felt we should have one earlier in the season.
Excited for the playoffs! It was cold for this game, so we were all bundled up and ready to cheer on the Wolfpack.
Here come the Wolves!
First playoff game as a Varsity coach!
We built an early lead, but Lake Highlands tried to make a comeback, which made the game interesting. In the end, Wolves Win! We were on to the next round!
Wolves up with Daddy
Family pic after the game...I am not a fan of this pic, but I had to include it (I seriously have on 5 layers of clothing!)
Big Zach was tired, but still came over to see Jake.
High 5s from Tucker and Big Jake
...and of course, Ejoo!
For the second round of playoffs we drew South Garland. We had played them in pre-district play and won easily. Confidence was high among Blue Nation that we could make school history and advance to the third round of playoffs!
Playoff Send-off
There's Stephen
Towards the end of the game, the coaches families always gather on the sidelines. Here is Jake with some of the other coaches kids: Coach Low's daughter, Kiernen, and the Mercer girls.
Jake and Adyson
The Wolves won this game easily! The Wolfpack was setting school history with each win!
The Mercer girls giving TK a big hug after the game...and that's Oshen jumping up high to celebrate.
To say the team was excited, just doesn't explain it...it was so much fun to watch them celebrate!
Scoreboard pic with Daddy after the game.
Blue Nation!
High-5 from J-Hall
...and Oshen, I told you his pictures are always blurry!
Family shot! This game was the day after Thanksgiving so not only were Stephen's parents there, but my Aunt and cousins were in town from Mississippi and got to come to the game.
As the playoff run progressed, the Quarterback Club started hosting weekly dinners at the school on Wednesday nights. The team and their families ate together in the school cafeteria, watched highlights from the previous week, talked about the upcoming game, etc.
Jake and Stephen with the Bi-District and Area Championship Trophies
Jake has been dying to go inside the Wolfpack lockeroom, so after dinner, Stephen took us in for a tour...Jake did not want to leave!
He went down the rows and looked at each boy's locker.
Since we were getting deeper into the playoffs, we started to play schools from farther away. Our next opponent was Lufkin and we were meeting in the middle and playing in Waco in the afternoon. This meant the send off was very early in the morning, Jake went in his pjs! He and Deon's Mom had a dance off, it was too funny!
He was a little sleepy, but I knew he would be super upset if he missed the send off.
Okay, so here is the deal...we got to Waco, but I didn't have a car charger for my phone, so I couldn't use it to take pictures during the game. So, I don't have any pictures, but this was seriously one of those amazing games that you see in movies. We had a big lead, lost it, came back again, and won when Lufkin missed an easy field goal attempt with 1 second on the clock. It was awesome!
Here is a link for a video montage of the game that really captures the moment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO62IbTjPZ0
Final score: Wolves win by 3
Scoreboard pic with Daddy
Blue Nation celebrating
Oshen, just a little bit blurry!
FINALLY, a NOT blurry picture with Oshen!
So the Wolves advance to the State Quarter-finals! Of all the teams that entered the playoffs, we were in the last 8 teams playing in the state! A local restaurant opened up one night for the boys. He opened his full menu and let the boys order whatever they wanted, it was so nice! As a whole, the fans and community have always been pretty 'blah' at the games, but this playoff run had everyone fired up!
Jake in line with Stephen, the coaches, and the boys.
Our season ended with a loss to Austin Westlake, it was a tough game...things just didn't seem to be 'clicking' from the start. We lost one of best players to an injury just before half time and that seemed to seal the deal for the Wolves. They tried to make a comeback, but fell short. Still, we were so unbelievably proud of the boys and all they had accomplished! Not bad for a team picked to not even make the playoffs in the first place :) It was truly a fairy tale season!
The final event for the 2012-2013 season was the Football Banquet in February.
One of Stephen's boys, J-Hall, won a scholarship that night. He was so surprised! Sweet boy was so overwhelmed he had his mom come up to speak for him. He was very deserving of the award!
Each coach speaks about their senior players: here is Stephen with Jordan, Stefan, and Tucker.
Stephen and Jordan
Stephen with Tucker and Jordan, showing off the Wolfpack hardware from the season.
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