Fourth quarter with the game in our hands. It was raining as if God put a curse on our passing offense. We drove all the way down to the twenty yard line but fumbled. Up by six with five minutes still left to play we have hope. They marched down the field, our defense crumbled under the pressure. Watching each player miss a tackle as they run was painful to watch to say the least. They score with two minutes left, a lazy pass down our own sideline. We had the ball rushing to snap it as time quickly ran down. With seconds left, no play call, and bad field position we ran back and forth, tossing the ball to each other as any team would in fear of the end. As the clock hit zero we fell to our knees. I was in disbelief and the seniors were shocked by what had just happened. Most of their careers are over.

The locker room was filled with silence. The players, coaches, and staff gathered—everyone feeling the weight of the defeat. The seniors sat in a quiet reflection realizing their time had come to an end. The silence was as if everyone was screaming. As our coaches addressed the team a mix of emotions were painted on the faces of every player. Some were upset while others showed determination. Our coach talked about the usual: using this as a learning experience, and the importance of using this as fuel for the next year. One thing my head coach said that stuck with me was “your off-season determines your careers.”  This was a moment I will never forget. It’s my motivation to keep pushing until I meet my goal of a state championship. 

The stylistic elements I attempted to use were dialogue, short paragraphs and metaphors. An example of each one starting with dialogue would be when my coaches were talking to us in the locker room and he explained “your off-season determines your careers.” Another example of my stylistic elements using short paragraphs can be seen as you read. My example of a metaphor is “The silence was as if everyone was screaming.” My piece is short and concise but gets the point across well.