In the locker room, Coach comes down hard on us for the stupid mistakes we made in the first half.

“Too many lost opportunities!” he says. “And if you don’t find your focus and play the way I know you can play, this entire game will be a lost opportunity.”

He talks about courage and teamwork. About dedication and drive. About putting it all on the line right now, because this is it. This is all we’ve got.

“This is the end of the story,” he tells us. “Right here. It’s up to you how you want to write it. How you want to be remembered. But even more importantly, how you want to remember this night for the rest of your lives.”

He finishes up, and we take a minute for ourselves before we break and hit the field.

I’m trying to focus on what I need to do when we go out there again, but I can’t stop thinking about the surprise I got a little while ago. As we were running into the locker room at the half, I looked up at the crowd, trying to spot my dad sitting with Gram and Grandpa.

I couldn’t find them.

But I saw four blue-and-gold hats, all in a row. I’d know those awesome hats anywhere.

My heart feels like a balloon about to pop, because she’s here. Whether she’s going to the airport afterward, who knows, but she’s here now. She couldn’t stay away.

This must have been how Superman felt when he found out Lois Lane had feelings for him.

I bet Superman would have been a helluva football player.

We did it. We took state.

There is running, yelling, and group hugging, and then, when I get a chance, I stand there for a moment and take it all in.

The cheering blue-and-gold crowd.

The final score in bright lights.

The feeling that anything truly is possible, with the right people by your side.

I don’t know what tomorrow will bring. All I know is right now, despite everything that’s happened this season, we did what we set out to do.

It’s amazing to know I was a part of something the town will talk about forever. And it’s something good.

Finally. Something good.

If someone in the stands needed some hope that things will be all right, they got a good, healthy dose of it tonight.

All of us did.