I enjoyed Saturday's game for a different reason than just the victorious efforts by Oklahoma. A boy from my high school is on the Tulsa football team. Now, many of my friends went to giant football powerhouse high schools in Texas. To these people, the idea of watching a high school classmate play college football is standard fare. The high school I graduated from, on the other hand, has had a notoriously incompetent football program for quite some time.
This football player graduated from high school the year after me, and he was red-shirted last year. In high school he was a quarterback, but at the collegiate level he has converted to defensive back.
Although he didn't start, my high school classmate saw limited playing time on punt and other special teams during the first half. During the second half, both teams began putting in backup players to give them some experience and to get the starters off the field and reduce their risk of injury.
Everyone within earshot of me had heard me talk about how I attended high school with one of Tulsa's defensive backs, so whenever he came onto the field to play I was very excited. He was involved with several tackles, much to my delight. Little did I know something even more exciting was about to happen.
Late in the game, my high school comrade caught an interception. It was a very poorly thrown pass by the quarterback that hit my friend right in the hands, but that in no way takes away from the accomplishment. At this point I had left the game and was watching the remainder of the game on television. I was very excited for my friend, and even though his team was losing by 40 points he was visibly elated. Good for him.
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