2003.
That was the last year that the Choctaw Indians beat their archrival: the Fort Walton Beach Vikings. Going into this game with five wins in a row this season, Choctaw had more to prove and more to gain against their Viking foes. The late scoring touchdown in the four quarter tied the score with about two minutes left in the game. Freddie Gray's (#21) interception catch on the Vikings drive and a touchdown a few plays later with less than a minute left in the game gave Choctaw the seven point lead that was deemed more than memorable. When the clock ran out and the Indians secured their 17-10 win, the fans flooded onto the field and cheered with the players.
Not only did the Indians break their 5 game losing streak against FWB...
They also broke the 19-19 tie in the series and raised it to 20-19.
On a night that was more than memorable to the Choctaw Indians, I found myself celebrating (silently) for one more reason than they were...
The last time Choctaw beat Fort Walton Beach was during my senior year at Choctaw. The first time I've attended the game since that night so many years ago is the time that the team finally broke the streak. Now THAT was truly the most memorable part of the night for me.
Video footage of the game along with the celebration at the end:
To say I entered into this assignment like any other football game would be a lie. Sure, a part of me is biased toward Choctaw, but I never let my personal feelings dictate how I cover an assignment. Yeah, I did want Choctaw to win, but my job is to photograph the game and capture feature images from both sides. I wanted to gather enough footage to balance the video and images with the exception of the winning and celebrating moments. If the Vikings had won, my images would have mostly contained red and blue screaming fans and players. Instead, I received a double dosage of excitement by being able to photograph and videotape my alma mater celebrating and cheering.
The closing seconds of the game were painful, that is, they were long and dragging. The energy off of the fans behind me was radiating and contagious. I wanted to break out and join them in celebrating, but I kept my focus on the task at hand. I photographed and videotaped several eager fans cheering and chanting as they waited impatiently to storm onto the field:
Once the game was officially over and the fans gathered in the middle of the field, I squeezed through the crazy Indian fans and grabbed a few good moments on video. When I discovered where the players were converging, I ran to the front in time to catch some chanting in the video and cheering in some images:
This game was by far my favorite football game to photograph/video this entire season. Covering a Choctaw game was part of it, but the suspense, the intensity, and the last-minute game-changing plays by Choctaw in this epic rivalry made this game one of the best all season. I am thankful that the staff photographer handed me the torch for this game and entrusted me with the sole responsibility to photograph football, fan & cheerleader, and band images for both teams as well as football, fan, and celebration video footage from both sides. This was by far the most work I've put into a game this season and it worked out very well.
The band photos were a lot of fun for me and made halftime fly by fast. The color guards were in front of me the majority of the shows, so I mostly have images of them performing. Here are two images from Fort Walton Beach's marching band:
These two images are from the colorguard of the Style Marchers:
If you were to ask me how that night could have been more memorable, my mind would draw a blank. If you were to ask me what I would have done differently, I would tell you a few minor issues. But, when I look at all the plays, all the photos, all the video footage, and all the screaming fans, there really couldn't have been anything better. Sure, my video camera froze on me during the second quarter and caused me to miss a few plays, and sure the intense play-making on the field had me running back and forth like a chicken with its head cut off, but it was worth it.
And I wouldn't have it any other way.
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