Kentucky Christian College football team played their first night game ever against their conference rival Georgetown College Saturday September 7, 2019.
This was the craziest, nail-biting, edge of your seat football game that I have ever been to!
Every parking spot was filled, colorful tents with tailgaters grilling lined up under the shade trees, people in lawn chairs, puppies on leashes, families, college students, high school students, cheerleaders and even a big yellow school bus filled campus.
The grandstand, metal bleachers, fence line, and even the grassy hill by the scoreboard had spectators sitting, standing and eagerly watching the summertime game.
A colorful bouncy house entertained the little ones and a concession stand under the grandstand fed the crowd.
Two students stood on top of the scissor-lift filming and the press box was jammed full of coaches, radio announcer, PA announcer, clock operator, live-stream and stats guys behind the brightly lit windows.
On the field the coaches, players and referees had no idea what this game held in store for everyone there. The night air was electric with excitement. Something big was about to happen. Everyone could feel it.
After half time the Knights were on fire! Touchdowns and field goals were scored. The crowd roared. The cheerleaders cheered. Refs blew their whistles. Coaches yelled and players played. Before long KCU Knights were tied with their conference rival Georgetown Tigers. This was crazy! We had not won a game against them since KCU began their football program over ten years ago! And here we are tied with only seconds left.
With emotions running high our kicker attempted a field goal, missed and was unfortunately tackled. The refs made the call “roughing the kicker”. Coach ran out on the field yelling, upset that his kicker was not protected. The crowd fell silent. You could of heard a pin drop as the trainers examined the kicker laying on the ground. Minutes ticked by as we all held our breaths and waited.
It seemed like an eternity before he sat up and was helped to his feet by his fellow team mates. The crowd clapped and cheered.
The stands were rocking, Bon Jovi was blasting and the game resumed.
With only 5.5 seconds left of the game, the Knights attempted a pass that fell incomplete. The fans didn’t give up and neither did our kicker as he limped back onto the field with only 1.4 seconds left!
The refs blew their whistle as a “delay of game” penalty resulted in losing five yards. With our hearts beating out of our chests we cheered louder as the team lined up to try to win the game without going into overtime.
The snap, the hold, the kick and the pigskin sailed through the up-rights as the clock ran out. The siren sounded, the crowds went wild as the Knights football players surrounded the kicker in celebration of the hard-earned win. The crowd not able to wait another second came down out of the stands and rushed the field to share in the moment!
Students, families and fans covered the turf as photos were snapped and hugs and high-fives were shared bringing to a close the second win of the 2019 football season.
Come enjoy a summer football game and support your local college team KCU at their next home game Sept. 28th. Tickets are $8.
See you there!
