Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: SNAP (05/28/26)
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TITLE: The Long Snap | Previous Challenge Entry
By Steve Rosas
06/04/26 -
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As he made the long journey to the locker room, he berated himself for his mistake. They only needed one play to complete a perfect season and to enter the playoffs as the undefeated champion. Not really one play- just one snap. One snap and the punter would have run backwards, taking the remaining time off the clock. But that one snap, his snap, sailed over the punter’s head into the end zone where it was recovered by the opposing team for a touchdown. Because of that one bad snap, they would now go into the playoffs on the road.
Joe wondered what Coach Hansen would say to him. After each game this season, the locker room after the game had been a celebration for a victory. Coach Hansen would always call out team players for exceptional plays. Tonight, for the first time this season, he would call them out for their failure to win and likely single out Joe for the bad snap that cost them the game.
In the locker room, Coach Hansen gathered the high school team around him.
“Okay everyone, listen up.” began Coach Hansen.
“Look, I know you are all disappointed, and so am I. That was a game that we could have, that we should have won. We squandered a lot of chances to put it away, but let’s give some credit to our opponents. They are a good team. They didn’t give up. But, I’ll tell you, if we meet them in the playoffs, I have to like our chances.
“I know that we’ve all heard a lot of talk about having a perfect season, but let’s be honest with ourselves. There is no such thing as a perfect season or even a perfect game. Heck, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a perfect play. We can always do better. We strive to learn from both our successes and our mistakes. We try to train harder, prepare better and execute each practice, each game, each play.
“Just like every other game this year, the coaching staff will recognize three stars. Unlike other games, I asked the coaches to put together some individual statistics to demonstrate which players were the most successful.
“Our third star of the game is Brian. He carried the ball 23 times. The lost yardage or was stopped for no gain 5 times, but gained yardage on the other 18 of the plays. His success ratio was 78%.
“Our second star of the game is Kevin. The defensive coach tells me that he had 17 chances for tackles, and he made or assisted on 15 of them for a success ratio of 88%.
“You may be surprised by our pick for number one star of the game, but remember, the numbers don’t lie. Joe- you snapped the ball successfully 46 out of 47 plays for a success ratio of 98%! You are out number one star.
“Guys, we all make mistakes. I know that Joe will learn from his- hopefully all of us will. But let’s not forget to recognize and appreciate all the great things that we did tonight- both on and off the field.
“Everyone, come on in. Put your hands together. On 3, let’s all yell “Teamwork”. Joe- you count us out.”
“…. Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal….” (Philippians 3:13b-14a New International Version)
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I myself can do nothing on my own without messing up the situation but I learning to rely on God's direction in my life.
Well-written story.